U.S. military considers training bomb-sniffing elephants

U.S. military considers training bomb-sniffing elephants
(Image credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Dogs usually take the credit for being bomb-sniffing animals, but elephants could soon give canines a run for their money.

U.S. military researchers in South Africa discovered that elephants can identify explosives using smell. Stephen Lee, head scientist at the U.S. Army Research Office, told The Associated Press that elephants can remember their training for longer than dogs can, so the research could hold promise and potentially save lives. Since bringing elephants to mine fields "wouldn't be practical," the researchers suggested bringing samples from mined areas to the trained elephants, and the animals could identify whether explosives were present, AP reports. Lee also suggested creating an olfactory sensor that was designed based on an elephant trunk.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.