The highly developed sense of smell and light weight of our African giant pouched rats, nicknamed ‘HeroRATs’, make them ideal detectors of landmines and tuberculosis.

APOPO’s scent detection animals, nicknamed ‘HeroRATs’ and ‘HeroDOGs’, help to rid the world of landmines and tuberculosis – returning safe land back to communities for development, and freeing people from serious illness so they can get back on their feet.

Our African giant pouched rats, nicknamed HeroRATs, are helping to find landmines and detecting tuberculosis as part of an integrated approach. When deployed alongside standard methods, they speed up the process, getting people’s lives back on track as fast as possible.

Find answers to frequently asked questions about APOPO's HeroRATs, including their care, diet, training, and their work in demining and TB detection.

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How we train herorats Driving APOPO’s position as a leading global scent detection research and development organization is our commitment to fundamental research that validates our operational performance and empirically informs our protocols, techniques, and operations

The HeroRATs can detect both metal and plastic-cased landmines, as they focus on the smell of explosives…making them highly efficient landmine detectors. The HeroRATs are 100% accurate and have never missed a mine.

In July 2024, 20 HeroRATs were deployed by APOPO to Cambodia, joining the crucial effort to address the persistent problem of landmines in the country. 14 of these specially trained African giant pouched rats, capable of detecting explosives with high precision, are now set to make Cambodia safer by detecting and helping clear landmines across ...

How do HeroRATs help combat illegal wildlife trafficking? HeroRATs, specially trained African giant pouched rats, are able to detect the scent of trafficked wildlife products like pangolin scales, elephant ivory, and rhino horn.

Landmines not only cause tragic accidents, they are a barrier to development, constraining communities and denying access to fertile land, travel routes and basic needs. APOPO’s HeroRATs and HeroDOGs perform complimentary roles making them the perfect 'tool' for speeding up detection and clearance.