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HEROrats save lives

I never thought I would be petting an African rat on a Saturday morning in Siem Reap. 

APOPO is a global non-profit organization that trains African giant pouched rats (called HEROrats) to save lives by detecting landmines in Cambodia. APOPO has been working in Cambodia since 2015.  Rats are used to detect landmines dropped during the many conflicts in the last 30 years. 

As an aside, APOPO use rats to detect tuberculosis in poorer countries.

The visitor centre tour was well worth the $8 per person.

These rats can find a trillionth of an ounce of TNT.  All landmines are either on or below the surface and rats are trained to sniff them out. When they find one they get a treat. It is then over to a human to either remove or blow up the landmine. 

We watched 'Valerie' hunting for landmines with her two handlers. Check out my Facebook for the video of Valerie detecting a landmine! 

We then had the opportunity to have our photos with a rat. Here I am with Dora the Explorer 😁

One detection handler said many locals eat rats in Cambodia. But since he started work at APOPO he has not eaten one. 

#HEROrats #APOPO #siemreap #cambodia 


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