A rat exits simulated earthquake rubble on July 29 at a facility in Morogoro, Tanzania, run by APOPO, a non-governmental organization that trains rats for lifesaving applications.

A man lies unmoving, slumped in the rubble of a simulated earthquake, as an unlikely rescuer approaches: a rat with a backpack. Whiskers waving, the rat breezes past garbage, toppled furniture and scattered clothes to find him and pull a trigger on its pack, alerting searchers above.

Then a resounding click. A survivor has been found. The search in Morogoro in Tanzania’s Uluguru Mountains is over and the rat scurries out of the abandoned building to be rewarded with a banana. A successful mission is complete for this African giant pouched rat being trained for search and rescue operations.

“Their sense of smel

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