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រសៀលAfternoon · The heroes

The Smallest Heroes in Cambodia

In the heat of the afternoon, the Kingdom’s smallest heroes are hard at work.

  • Siem Reap
  • 1 hour
  • Offbeat
Register interest See the itinerary
An APOPO HeroRAT in its handler’s arms

The experience

Meet the HeroRATs of APOPO and their handlers: featherweight mine-detection rats returning Cambodia’s fields to its farmers, one square metre at a time. An hour that reframes everything you’ve seen. The Kingdom isn’t just ancient; it’s rising.

Highlights

  • Meet APOPO’s HeroRATs and their handlers
  • A live demonstration on a mock minefield
  • How the rats clear land one square metre at a time
  • Fields returned to Cambodia’s farmers
  • One hour, easy to fit into a temple day

In pictures

The hour in pictures

A HeroRAT held in the arms of a member of the APOPO team in Siem Reap
01Meet BoscoA HeroRAT at APOPO’s Visitor Center in Siem Reap.
A trainer working with a rat in a scent-training cabinet
02Learning the scentTraining at APOPO’s centre in Tanzania takes nine to twelve months.
A trainer rewarding a HeroRAT with a banana
03A reward for every findTrainers reward the rats each time they find the scent.
A red Danger Mines warning sign with a skull and crossbones in Cambodia
04Danger!! Mines!!Signs like this still mark contaminated land in Cambodia.
A deminer in protective gear excavating a marked site on a rocky hillside
05ClearanceA deminer at work in Cambodia. In March 2025, 1,697 km² was still contaminated.
Green rice fields and sugar palms in the Cambodian countryside
06Land given backCleared land returns to the people who farm it.
A tree on the bank of the Siem Reap River
07The Siem Reap RiverMagawa’s stone statue stands on the riverfront, close to the Visitor Center.

Photos: 1 Mx. Granger, CC0 · 2 Thukuk, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 3 Thukuk, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 4 kyle simourd, CC BY 2.0 · 5 TheHeroAntagon1st, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 6 Gary Todd, CC0 · 7 Uhooep, CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

Too light to set off a mine

APOPO began in Belgium in 1997, founded by Bart Weetjens and Christophe Cox. Its name is a Dutch acronym for anti-personnel landmine detection product development, and its idea was an unlikely one: African giant pouched rats. Born and trained at APOPO’s centre in Morogoro, Tanzania, the rats weigh one to one and a half kilos, too light to set off a mine. They learn to smell explosives such as TNT and to ignore scrap metal, so a single rat can search an area the size of a tennis court in about twenty minutes. A deminer with a metal detector can take up to four days.

Cambodia needs them. Nearly three decades of conflict, from 1970 to 1998, left an estimated four to six million landmines and other unexploded munitions in its soil. In March 2025, 1,697 square kilometres were still contaminated, and the country is working to be mine-free by the end of 2030. APOPO began here in 2014 with the Cambodian Mine Action Center, and its rats went to work on live minefields in 2016. In its first ten years, the Cambodia programme destroyed 2,669 anti-personnel mines, 18 anti-tank mines, 946 cluster munitions and 2,441 other unexploded items, and it has returned more than 40 square kilometres of land to the people who farm and live on it.

The most famous HeroRAT was Magawa. Working in Siem Reap from 2016, he found 71 landmines and 38 other explosives and helped clear more than 225,000 square metres. In 2020 he became the first rat in the PDSA’s 77-year history to receive its Gold Medal for life-saving bravery. He retired in June 2021 and died in January 2022, aged eight. Since April 2026, a 2.2-metre stone statue of him has stood on the Siem Reap riverfront, close to the Visitor Center.

Itinerary

How the hour unfolds

  1. Arrive at the Visitor Center

    Step into APOPO’s Visitor Center in Siem Reap and meet the team.

  2. The story of the mines

    A guided introduction to landmines, Cambodia’s recent history and APOPO’s work: how the rats are bred and trained in Tanzania, and how they work alongside human deminers in the field.

  3. The demonstration

    Watch a HeroRAT work a simulated minefield live, nose to the ground, square metre by square metre. When it finds the scent of explosive it signals, and its trainer rewards it.

  4. Hold a HeroRAT

    Meet the rats and their trainers up close, and hold a HeroRAT yourself.

  5. Land given back

    Hear how this work returns Cambodia’s fields to its farmers, and see the temples you visited in a new light.

  6. Before you leave

    Magawa’s statue

    Close by on the riverfront stands the 2.2-metre stone statue of Magawa, unveiled in April 2026.

Plan your trip

The details

Duration
About 1 hour
When
Any day, at a time that suits you
Format
Private
Where
APOPO Visitor Center, Siem Reap
Good to know
It pairs well with a morning at the temples or a day with the elephants.

Before you go

Questions, answered

Do the rats set off the mines?

No. A HeroRAT weighs between one and one and a half kilos, too light to trigger a landmine. It finds the scent of explosive and signals, and human deminers do the rest.

Can we hold a rat?

Yes. Visitors can hold a HeroRAT during the visit.

How long does it take?

About an hour, which makes it easy to fit around a morning at the temples.

How does a rat find a mine?

Over nine to twelve months of training, it learns to pick out the smell of explosives such as TNT and to ignore scrap metal, which is what slows a metal detector down.

Is Cambodia still mined?

In parts, yes. In March 2025, 1,697 square kilometres were still contaminated, and Cambodia is working to be mine-free by the end of 2030.

Was Magawa the most successful HeroRAT?

He is the most famous. In 2025 another HeroRAT, Ronin, set a Guinness World Records title by finding 109 landmines and 15 other explosives.

Arranged around you

No fixed times. You choose when.

Every One Journey experience in Cambodia is private. Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and we will arrange it around you.

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