5 years ago
1
Meet the 'hero rats' clearing Cambodia's landmines
The sun is barely up when Thoeun Theap pulls into a clearing in the thick Cambodian bush with a giant African rat on the seat beside him. In a few minutes the two will be out there beyond the treeline, scouring the earth for the remnants of a war Mr Theap fled almost 40 years ago. He spends most mornings out here in no man's land with his team of pouched rat handlers from APOPO and de-miners from the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC). A step in the wrong direction could see them lose a leg.
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I've known about these rats for years. They were kept as pets till they spead monkey pox. Breeders unloaded them into the wilds of Florida and who knows where else once they were outlawed as pets. Not sure what their status is now.