Article First Publication Challenge
It is not an exaggeration to say that Africans have stepped on 1.2 million landmines.
It can be said that their lives are walking on thin ice every day, because this poor and backward land is the most densely populated minefield in the world.
Egypt, Mozambique, Angola and Somalia are riddled with landmines.
Mozambique, in particular, is a small area with millions of landmines buried in the ground, which is terrifying to think about.
It is certainly not an easy task to clear these mines.
Some people have calculated that it would take 4,000 years to complete it if the traditional method were used.
But Africans are so clever that their approach may seem clumsy, but it is actually very quick and easy to solve this problem in a short period of time.
It's just that when it comes to the heroes of demining, I believe many people would never have imagined that it would be shouted and beaten by everyone in their lives.
How do they do it?
It is reported that there are more than one million landmines in Africa, and these mines come from various types of wars, and they have different models and functions.
The only thing they have in common is that they all have deep hidden dangers to the lives of local people.
As a legacy of the war, the cost of mines is not high, and some are even very cheap.
However, this does not prevent them from being used, and the highest is said to be 75 years.
These mines are buried in various places, making it difficult for people to guard against them.
So every year, innocent people are killed by landmines, leading to a cycle of tragedy day after day, year after year.
No one knows where these tens of millions of mines are buried, because the relevant records have long been lost.
What's even more terrifying is that in agricultural resources such as farmland and pastures, there are often landmines.
This directly led to no one daring to cultivate, and it was really distressing to look at the large areas of abandoned fields.
In Angola, for example, where landmines are densely populated, there are as many as 1 3 arable land that no one dares to ask.
So the removal of these mines is urgent, and of course it is a very difficult task.
Because there are scientists who have done calculations,It would be difficult to clear the 1.2 million landmines on the African continent without 4,000 years.
Most of Africa's landmines are the legacy of war, and although landmines in different regions are the product of World War II.
Because these mines are so lethal, African countries** are trying to figure out how to remove them quickly.
Some people say that you can use a metal detector from a film or television, but in practice, this is not really possible.
Because mines are buried underground, they are highly concealed.
The original mines were made of metal, and although they were simple to make** cheap, they were easily exposed.
In order to quickly demine in the war, the Soviet Union in 1934 invented a demining tool, an electronic detector that could be held in the hand.
But landmines are also constantly being updated, especially after World War II, when the shells of landmines changed from metal to non-metal, many of which were made of plastic.
This meant that the previous electronic detectors were successfully laid off, because they were completely useless for non-metallic housings.
So the United States had a new invention in the 50s, which was specially designed to detect these mines with non-metallic shells, called non-metallic high-frequency detectors.
But this kind of detector also has a disadvantage, while successfully detecting mines, the detector sometimes makes a false judgment and also sounds an alarm when it detects stones and tree roots.
Later, with the continuous development of science and technology, mine detection equipment has also been frequently updated, using pulse, infrared, sonic and other technologies.
Although this can detect landmines faster to a certain extent, it is difficult to popularize them on a large scale because of the high cost.
Especially in Africa, where the economy is relatively backward, it is even more difficult to keep up with the pace of scientific and technological progress.
For them, manual demining is the most common method.
However, manual demining has many drawbacks, in addition to being slow, it also exposes workers to a high level of danger.
After all, the incubation period of the power of landmines is too long for everyone to guard against.
The types of mines in each mine are different, which requires higher professional skills from the staff.
But no matter how high the level is, there is no guarantee that everything will be foolproof.
Although Africans don't have money, the good thing is that they have a smart brain.
Because there are too many disadvantages of manual demining, they later came up with a way and made their ownDemining vehicles
The demining vehicle is a tank, but it is not an ordinary tank.
Because in front of the tank, there will be a large roller, and on top of the large roller, layers of iron chains will be added.
As the tank advances, the chain will hit the ground incessantly, detonating the mine.
However, demining vehicles have certain limitations, not only is it difficult to clear mines in dense jungles, but also for those mines made of high technology, they can only sigh with thunder.
Later, some scientists thought of animals because they have a sense of smell that surpasses that of humans.
By taking advantage of this, they can be accurately located and quickly located where the mines are buried.
So the demining dogs appeared.
Because of the smell of explosives in mines, these dogs with a keen sense of smell can quickly lock on to targets after training, which does play a role in helping humans clear mines.
But there are also drawbacks, these demining dogs need to be specially trained, not only for a long time, but also for a high level.
What's more, they are all imported from other places, and it is easy to adapt to the soil.
And they have a large dependence on humans, and it is difficult for others to tame them except for their owners.
Because the cost performance is not high, demining dogs are naturally eliminated.
Instead, there is another animal called The Gambia Kangaroo.
The Gambia has a kangaroo body length of 0At about 75 meters, as a native rodent, they naturally have a strong adaptability to the African environment and will not be infected by various germs.
They are relatively easy to train, and after being trained, their temper will become relatively mild.
What's more, their business ability is not inferior to that of the Thunder Dog.
They have a unique advantage, because they are small and light, so even if they step on a mine, they will not trigger a mine**, and have strong safety.
In addition, their sense of smell is comparable to that of some hunting dogs, especially after professional training, and they are able to perform well in mine clearance.
Humans will use food as bait as a reward for finding mines.
Over time, they became so enthusiastic about their work that they even asked for mine clearance, just so that they could have a full meal afterwards.
In addition, they are very easy to raise, and their diet is mostly vegetarian, especially bananas and cereals.
This means that there will naturally be savings in terms of economic costs, making them very cost-effective.
Their work efficiency is very high, and with a minefield of more than 200 square meters, they can complete the task perfectly in only one hour without letting go of any corner with their small bodies.
This is naturally the best option for African countries, which are in every sense of the way they are the best choice for demining.
In 2018, a super typhoon put Mozambique at risk of landmines detonating at any time.
Abobo, a company from Belgium, decided to contribute 10 Gambian kangaroos to help them clear mines.
After a year of training, 10 Gambian kangaroos were given heavy duty.
Under the guidance of the staff, they showed their skills in the minefield, and soon locked on one target after another.
They first weave through the minefield, sniffing the ground with the tip of their noses.
When they stop and sniff in a spot many times from time to time, it probably means that they have discovered something.
When kangaroos in The Gambia spot a mine, they dig a small pit with their paws.
At this point, the deminers will know that they have found a mine, and they will be rewarded accordingly with a large banana.
Because the Gambia has kangaroos that are cheap and easy to use, they have become the main force of demining in Africa.
At present, there are more than 5,000 "employees" working in the front line, according to incomplete statistics.
One of them is calledMagawa's Demining Mouse,The performance is particularly outstanding.
For its demining merits, after its retirement, it received the "Animal Courage Award".
This award is known as the animal Oscars, and it has a very high gold content.
In its 77-year history, Magawa is also the only rodent to receive this award.
It has been in service for up to 5 years, and during its service, it is not only fast and accurate, but also very accurate, and has discharged more than 100 mines for Cambodia.
Not only that, but it also has an additional role to play in demining.
Magawa discovered many other flammable and explosive materials, avoiding many dangers and protecting the lives of local residents.
Obviously, the threat of landmines to people and the environment is enormous, but why are they still allowed to be produced, sold and used around the world?
In the final analysis, it is because it is cheap and easy to use, and for economically backward African countries, they prefer to choose cheap landmines as a kind of military defense**.
Even if it would cause a lot of hidden dangers after the war, they had no choice.
Of course, from the bottom of their hearts, they don't want to live this kind of life on thin ice.
Therefore, all African countries have not stopped the pace of demining, and the African Union hopes that landmines will be completely eliminated from African soil.
Nelson Mandela was a staunch South African rejector, because he knew how deeply devastated they were for humanity.
So during his tenure, South Africa has said goodbye to landmines, not only for production and sales, but also for resale.
Of course, it is far from enough to rely on the efforts of one country or region alone, and only when all countries in the world unite to oppose the emergence of landmines can we truly play a role in curing both the symptoms and the root causes.
However, if the war continues, even if there are more and more demining rats, it will be difficult to reverse the situation in which the people of Africa are in deep fire and heat, and it will be difficult for them to get real security.