Support APOPO's HeroRATs!

APOPO trains African giant pouched rats (nicknamed HeroRATs) to detect landmines and tuberculosis (TB) using their amazing sense of smell.

Landmines injure or kill innocent civilians every day and pose a structural barrier to development, long after war ends. Trained HeroRATs can quickly and accurately detect landmines, thereby significantly speeding up the demining process.

Meanwhile, there are about 9 million new cases of TB per year of which 3 million cases are not diagnosed. APOPO's HeroRATs can sniff out TB in human sputum samples, helping APOPO to raise the number of TB-positive patients found by over 40% in partner clinics. This allows patients to start treatment and prevent the spread of this deadly respiratory illness.

HeroRATs offer an efficient and accurate alternative to combat two global humanitarian detection challenges, relieving human suffering and promoting development when used in landmine detection and TB detection.

APOPO uses a readily available resource and involves and employs local communities in the solution - thereby helping to initiate development and create positive social change.

Our TB detection rats are at least as accurate as conventional routine microscopy but up to 20 times faster. The Mine-Detection HeroRATs can search 200m2 in 1 hour, which would take a manual deminer with a metal detector 2-4 days.

With your support, APOPO is also training HeroRATs for search and rescue (RescueRATs!) and wildlife trafficking prevention - leading the way in animal scent detection innovation, all for the purpose of saving lives.

APOPO has programs in Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, South Sudaand Senegal.