At first glance, it might seem like Chishuru the elephant is simply searching for foodaong white plastic buckets laid out by his caretakers.
But this 17-year-old bull has a remarkable talent—he can detect even the faintest traces of explosives with his keen sense of smell, acting as a “bomb disposal expert” in the animal kingdom.
In South Africa’s Limpopo Province, the wildlife organization Adventures with Elephants has been conducting research funded by the U.S. Army Research Office to harness elephants’ scent-detection abilities.
In a recent experiment, Chishuru demonstrated his skill by identifying a bucket containing a small sample of TNT on a piece of filter paper. Upon locating it, he signaled his discovery by raising his right leg.
This research builds on findings from 2007, when GPS tracking revealed that an elephant herd in Angola intentionally avoided landmine fields left from the country’s civil war—a dangerous legacy that had previously harmed many elephants.
Inspired by this, Sean Hensman, co-owner of a game reserve in Limpopo, has tested three elephants on their scent detection skills.
According to zoology student Ashadee Kay Miller from the University of the Witwatersrand, the elephants correctly identified TNT samples 73 times out of 74 trials, with an accuracy rate of over 96% across 502 bucket samples.
While elephants could help in detecting landmines, walking directly through mined areas is neither practical nor safe for the animals.
To address this, researchers propose using drones to collect air samples from minefields and bring them to trained elephants, who would then detect any presence of explosives from a safe location.
This approach would allow elephants to contribute to minefield clearance without risking their safety.
Chishuru’s skills have proven remarkably reliable—even when presented with TNT for the first time in over a year, he located it without any additional training.
Michael Hensman, manager of Adventures with Elephants, highlighted the elephant’s impressive memory and olfactory strength, explaining, “We set out to understand how elephants naturally avoid these dangerous areas, and it appears to be tied to their sense of smell. But we’ll always prioritize their safety by gathering scent samples remotely and presenting those samples to the elephants.”
In addition to landmine detection, researchers are exploring other applications for elephants’ scent-tracking abilities, such as early screening for diseases like cancer and diabetes.
According to Miller, elephants possess over twice the number of olfactory receptor genes compared to dogs, enhancing their sense of smell significantly.
This advanced olfactory system not only makes elephants efficient scent detectors but also offers a less resource-intensive alternative to training and caring for dogs as biosensors.
With such powerful scent-tracking abilities, elephants like Chishuru might soon play an important role in improving safety in former conflict zones—without ever having to set foot in dangerous minefields.
