A Chinese city has trained a group of squirrels to be able to detect drugs in spaces with difficult access such as storage warehouses or very high places, according to the local press today.
The six anti-narcotics squirrels, of the Eurasian red variety, will join their new function in the city of Chongqing (southwest), after their new “police” capacity has been endorsed by several scientific institutions, indicates the official newspaper Global Times.
“Squirrels have a very good sense of smell”said Yin Jin, one of the handlers of the dog brigade of the Hechuan Public Security Bureau, in that city.
The expert assured that the training method they have developed is also useful for other animal species and added that the results obtained so far are positive and that the squirrel unit is capable of quickly identifying the presence of drugs.
According to Yin, unlike dogs, squirrels’ small size and agility allow them to get into hard-to-reach areas as well as high-altitude places.
Animals have been trained to scratch on the surface as a way of indicating to their handlers that they have smelled the presence of drugs.
The Ministry of Public Security of China said a few months ago that the Asian country is the nation with the drug control system “tightest in the world” and with the largest amount of prohibited substances.
Large-scale drug trafficking is a crime punishable by death in China.
(With information from EFE)
Source: Gestion
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