Detection of cigarettes and other tobacco products by giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus)

Abstract

If the illicit tobacco trade were eliminated, governments could gain at least $31.3 billion a year, and more than 164,000 premature deaths a year could be avoided after 2030 (Joossens, Merriman, Ross, and Raw, 2009). Dogs have been used successfully in tobacco control programs, and there is a good chance that rats could also play an important role. In the present experiment, giant African pouched rats were trained to respond to filters that had been stored together with cigarettes (i.e., soaked) and to not respond to filters that had been soaked with noncigarette items. Generalization to untrained types of tobacco was then tested. The sensitivity of 4 rats trained on filters soaked with 1 of 7 types of cigarettes ranged from 86% to 100% (mean, 95%). There was very little evidence of generalization when the rats were tested on tobacco leaves and snuff but good evidence of generalization when the rats were tested on cigarettes that had been soaked with strong-smelling additives. These findings suggest that rats may be a valuable asset in the global effort to control illicit cigarette trade.