Three-year-old Lunathi Dwadwa was killed by a giant rat in South Africa while sleeping in her family’s tent in Khayelisha, a suburb of Cape Town.
South African police have arrested a 26-year-old mother in Katlehong, Johannesburg, for child neglect. The woman left her three-month-old daughter home alone to party all night, and when she returned the next morning, the baby had been partially eaten by rats and died in excruciating pain, according to reports from Sun.
According to scientists at the Siyabona National Park in Africa, the type of rat that likely attacked the young girl is the Gambian pouched rat, one of the largest and most aggressive rodents in the world.
Giant rats in South Africa often attack humans, causing fatalities. (Photo: Sun).
The Gambian pouched rat has a highly sensitive sense of smell and is often trained to detect landmines in various countries around the world due to its easier training compared to dogs and lower costs. To maintain the conditioned reflex for the Gambian pouched rats, mine detectors and deminers must regularly train them, typically five days a week, and only feed them carefully selected safe food. They are usually tethered to a harness between two handlers. Once trained, they are released to sweep an area considered dangerous and will dig when they detect the scent of explosives. The military is interested in training these rats because it is cost-effective. In fact, Gambian pouched rats are very sensitive and work in a highly organized manner.
Many Americans also keep these rats as pets. However, in South Africa, their native land, they instill fear in the population due to incidents of human attacks. In 2011, two girls in South Africa also died after being attacked by Gambian pouched rats.
Gambian pouched rats are about the size of a domestic cat, with incisors that can grow up to 3 cm long. They are omnivorous rodents with a diverse diet, ranging from insects to termites, fruits, vegetables, and even human flesh, according to Krugerpark.
Their primary targets are often unsupervised children who lack adequate adult supervision. These young children are unable to defend themselves against rats that can weigh up to 4 kg and measure over 90 cm in length, often resulting in a painful death with their bodies not remaining intact.
This species breeds rapidly, with an average gestation period of 27 days, giving birth to 2-4 young per litter. Their mating season primarily occurs during the summer, and the young mature by three months of age.
They can reproduce very quickly (up to 50 offspring per year), and baby rats can mate as early as five months old. After giving birth, Gambian pouched rats only have to wait nine months before they can breed again. They can also live for 7-8 years and are distantly related to rats found in England, being considered one of the largest and most aggressive rat species in the world.
