FRONTLINE

Tanzania: Hero Rats

Season 2007 | 10m 51s

Bart Weetjens founded a unique lab in Tanzania dedicated to training rats to sniff out deadly unexploded land mines — the legacy of countless bloody conflicts. Although dogs had traditionally been used to help humans detect mines, Weetjens, who had long felt a special bond with rodents, realized that African giant pouched rats were lighter, cheaper to care for, and less susceptible to disease.

Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Trust with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.