Chinese police train squirrels to find drugs

However, it may not be long before we see another creature walking around airports and train stations – the Chinese police have recruited their first squad of bloodhound squirrels.

Six “Red Eurasians” were “successfully trained” for the job at the Hechuan District Public Security Bureau in Chongqing, southwest China.

It turns out the little rodents are just as effective at detecting illegal substances, and their small size allows them to search places that dogs can’t get to. These include caches crammed into rooms in warehouses or parcels in distribution centers, as well as caches on high ground.

A team of police trained squirrels to scratch when they detect drugs, using technology commonly used in dog training.

Police dog trainer Yin Jin told the Chongqing Morning Post that it took years to get squirrels to this level of ability, but they are doing a “great job”.

“Squirrels’ sense of smell is quite sensitive,” he told state media. “It’s just that our rodent training technology wasn’t mature enough before.”

Their training is part of a national research project to create a new unit of drug-fighting animals that includes rats.

Despite this breakthrough, China’s police say it will “probably take some time” before sniffer squirrels are hired everywhere.

This is not the first time rodents have helped police, for example, rats have been successfully detecting bombs for about a decade. Magawa, the “heroic” mine-detecting rat awarded the animal equivalent of the George Cross, died last year after working for a Belgian charity for five years: “During his career, Magawa has discovered more than 100 landmines and other explosives, making him the most successful rodent-mine detector today. His contributions enable communities in Cambodia to live, work and play without fear of losing life or limb.”

Another charity based in Tanzania is hiring African giant pouches for the job because they are light and cannot detonate landmines when stepped on. They are trained to associate the clicking sound with food as early as 10 weeks of age. When the rats approach the mine, they smell TNT, start scratching, and if they hear a click, they notify about it, receiving a food reward. These animals are able to distinguish mines containing TNT from those that are already empty and harmless. They can also detect chemical compounds in explosives and ignore any scrap metal lying around, making them much faster than metal detectors.

Christina DENISYUK.