Animals in the military

From birds to dolphins, bats to bees, animals have been playing a role in the military for decades. In fact, pigeons were widely used in both world wars, thanks to their speed and remarkable internal compass. The birds are credited with saving thousands of lives. For their efforts, some were even awarded the Dickin Medal - the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.

War pigeons didn't only carry notes. In 1907 German Julius Neubronner came up with the idea of strapping a tiny camera to pigeons for aerial reconnaissance although it's not known if this espionage tool was ever used on the battlefield. The US also attempted to make pigeon-guided missiles under "Project Pigeon," by training birds to steer bombs towards a target.

Dogs have long been used by armies to sniff out mines, lead patrols and dig out bomb victims. In Vietnam, the US used an estimated 4,000 war dogs. Usually Labradors or German Shepherds, the canines were tasked with tracking the Viet Cong, following blood trails, and finding booby traps.

The US began using an experimental weapon filled with hibernating, bomb-laden bats during the 1940s. Once the bomb canister was dropped, thousands of tiny bats carrying explosives were released to find a building to roost in down below. The plan was for them to set off multiple fires simultaneously in one city.

In the 1960s the CIA launched an intriguing project called "Acoustic Kitty" to eavesdrop on Soviet embassies. A microphone, battery, and antenna, were surgically implanted into a cat, which was then meant to record conversations between persons of interest meeting in a park. The project was abandoned in 1967.

Sea lions and dolphins have been working with the US military since 1960 as part of the Navy Marine Mammal Program. The recruits are trained to find enemy divers, scout safe passages for ships and detect underwater mines. During the Iraq War dolphins were kitted up with locating sonar devices to do mine clearance work in the Persian Gulf.

Dogs are well-known for their strong sense of smell, but the honeybee's talent for sniffing out sweet pollen is now also being harnessed. By mixing bomb particles with a sugary solution, researchers in Croatia are now breeding bees that can detect buried landmines some five kilometers (three miles) away. The Balkans region is still littered with mines leftover from conflicts there in the 1990s.

In Tanzania, Belgian non-profit APOPO is training African giant pouched rats to sniff out land mines. The rodents undergo rigorous training before being dispatched to post-war countries that require their expertise. So far 57 mine detection rats have been accredited for the job.

In the 1970s, Britain's MI5 planned to create an elite team of gerbils, specially trained to smell a rise in human adrenalin, a classic sign that someone is under stress. Gerbils were first used to sniff for terrorists at Tel Aviv airport, but the plan was dropped after it was discovered they couldn't differentiate between nervous flyers and real suspects.

Military forces have always depended on the special skills of animals and yet the role of these creatures during war has often been overlooked. The 'Animals in War Memorial' in Hyde Park in London is the first permanent memorial to animals who have served and died in times of conflict. It was opened to the public in 2004.