Its true! If there's one thing HeroRATs love, its bananas.
Full cheeks
Banana reward
Banana love
What, you may ask is a HeroRAT? Follow me past the Fleur-de-Kos and find out.
Welcome to HeroRATs headquarters!
HeroRATs are saving lives, sniffing out dangers such as landmines and disease. We are true heroes, working hand-in-hand with humans to create safer communities and a better world. A fully-trained HeroRAT can identify landmines quickly and efficiently, or can sniff out deadly pulmonary tuberculosis faster than traditional laboratory microscopy. Not only that, we work for peanuts!
In short, HeroRATs provide a simple, innovative solution to some of the complex global problems facing humankind today. By working together, we can save even more lives and limbs.
HeroRATs is a public campaign to raise awareness about APOPO's work. APOPO's mission is to train and disseminate sniffer rats to save human lives by detecting landmines and disease.
HeroRATS are giant pouched rats or the Gambian pouched rat.
Because it takes about 5 kg to set off a land mine, HeroRaTs are too light to trip one.
Here's a short video reports of what they do.
Back on February 20th of this year, my Veterans For Peace Chapter adopted "Ziko".
Handsome isn't he?
He had already started training and on April 13th, we got an announcement that he had graduated from landmine detection school. It was a proud day, you can read about it here.
Here is a really good in depth documentary on HeroRATs, by the Economist Magazine on Mar 31, 2010, about 8 minutes long.
Members of my family years ago gave up giving material gifts and instead would donate to a cause, this year I'll be adopting a HeroRAT.
Move over, Kindle and iPad: this season's hottest holiday gifts have four legs, long tails, and sniffers even more useful than that of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Their names are Nala, Cheeky, Blossom, and Mojo, and supporting their life-saving work through a HeroRAT Gift Adoption is a hassle-free way to bring holiday cheer to anyone on your gift list!
Not only that, it truly is a gift that continues to give. Long after the presents have been unwrapped and thank you cards have been sent, our HeroRATs will still be doing their life-saving detection work...helping to solve global problems like landmines and TB, one sniff at a time!
Adopt a HeroRAT for Christmas, only 5 Euros a month, about $7 US.
HeroRAT FAQ - PDF
APOPO and the HeroRATs thank you!