After a 15-year civil war, Mozambique was one of the world’s most heavily mined countries. Twenty-two years after the war ended, the country was declared officially mine-free this month. Key to this success have been trained de-mining rats used by the Norwgian-supported organization APOPO. The rats sniff out the mines and their handlers destroy the mines. That way APOPO cleared 13,274 landmines and returned 11,124,446 square metres of land to safe use by the people of Mozambique. Check out this video:

Support APOPO’s next mission in Angola by adopting a rat.

Photos of the rats and their handlers on Flickr.

NPR story on de-mining rats in Cambodia.

AUF DEUTSCH: APOPO Minenräumung info

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