{"id":441539,"date":"2026-08-23T22:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T22:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441539\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T22:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T22:50:26","slug":"tiny-detectives-arrive-at-california-zoo-as-crime-fighting-rats-make-their-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441539\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiny detectives arrive at California zoo as crime-fighting rats make their debut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A fawn stuck in a fence protested quite loud as it was freed from a fence in Indian Hills, Colorado on Wednesday. The deer was reunited with its mother after being released from its tight position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento<\/a> Zoo has welcomed its newest, one-of-a-kind residents: three African giant pouched rats.<\/p>\n

MICHIGAN RESEARCHERS DISCOVER THESE ANCIENT FISH MAY BE OLDER THAN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE<\/a><\/p>\n

Also known as HeroRATs, these highly trained animals<\/a> can sniff out tuberculosis, landmines and trafficked wildlife products, including rhino horn.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n

HeroRATs are highly trained animals can sniff out tuberculosis, landmines and trafficked wildlife products, including rhino horn.<\/p>\n

(Sacramento Zoo \/ FOX Weather)<\/p>\n

According to a social media post from the Sacramento<\/a> Zoo, the facility partnered with Belgian nonprofit APOPO to house the three HeroRATs.<\/p>\n

The zoo has developed an interactive habitat designed to teach visitors about the animals\u2019 abilities and the illegal wildlife<\/a> trade.<\/p>\n

SEE WHICH CITIES ARE EXPERIENCING A SURGE IN RATS DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE<\/a><\/p>\n

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A baby giant African pouch rat is rewarded with a banana by its trainer after accurately finding a dummy mine during a training exercise. \u00a0<\/p>\n

(YASUYOSHI CHIBA\/AFP via Getty Images \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The rats are currently living with the California<\/a> zoo\u2019s ambassador animals while their new habitat is being constructed.<\/p>\n

SEE IT: CURIOUS BABY SHARK SWIMS ALONGSIDE DIVER IN UNFORGETTABLE ENCOUNTER<\/a><\/p>\n

African giant pouched rats<\/a> are among the largest rats in the world, growing to an average length of about 3 feet, including their tails. Some can grow to the size of a small cat and weigh up to 9 pounds, per the Texas Invasive Species Institute.<\/p>\n

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African giant pouched rats are among the largest rats in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Sacramento Zoo \/ FOX Weather)<\/p>\n

APOPO, an organization that trains southern giant pouched rats<\/a> and technical survey dogs to detect disease and other threats, said its HeroRAT<\/a> program is also used to identify hidden wildlife products.<\/p>\n

MICHIGAN RESEARCHERS DISCOVER THESE ANCIENT FISH MAY BE OLDER THAN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE<\/a><\/p>\n

The rats can detect even trace amounts of target substances while ignoring other scents sometimes used to mask illegal items.<\/p>\n

According to APOPO, the animals can provide a cost-effective, non-invasive and efficient way to screen large volumes of cargo at ports, airports and border crossings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fawn stuck in a fence protested quite loud as it was freed from a fence in Indian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2113,7,121,123,122,3607,90863,1181,7662,8074,170651],"class_list":["post-441539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-animals","tag-california","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-safety","tag-stay22","tag-us","tag-wildlife","tag-world","tag-world-regions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}