APOPO’s visitor center in Siem Reap, Cambodia, has been a highly successful and engaging experience for APOPO and visitors alike. Our visitor center is on pace to receive over 100,000 visitors in 2025. With high rankings across thousands of reviews on both Trip Advisor and Google and more than a half decade of experience running its Visitor Center in Siem Reap, APOPO is now partnering with organizations to bring a travelling, adaptable version of the exhibit to your location.
TRAVELING EXHIBITS IN 2025
For the first time, HeroRATs are on exhibit outside of Siem Reap! We have developed a comprehensive travelling exhibit specifically for our first two exhibit zoo partners, the Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, Kansas and Living Desert in Palm Springs, California. The exhibit showcases 7 demonstration HeroRATs who were trained at our Headquarters in Tanzania. It tells the engaging story of how HeroRATs scent detection capabilities, agility, and small size give them unique advantages in preventing illegal wildlife trafficking in the sea and airports. HeroRATs are housed in enclosures visible to the public and brought outside for public demonstrations every day. APOPO and the zoos have teamed up to create a unique exhibit linking the HeroRAT’s amazing wildlife detection work in Dar Es Salaam to the conservation of trafficking-vulnerable elephants, giraffes, rhino, and pangolin. Special VIP tours, joint fundraising, and merchandise also have been developed. For more information on the current exhibit schedule, check APOPO’s social media and the following zoo’s websites as the scheduled hosting draws near. APOPO’s exhibit has been at the Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard Kansas since June 2025. The exhibit will move to Living Desert in November, where it will be hosted through February 2025.“Partnering with APOPO and their trained HeroRATS has been an amazing experience for our park. Both in conservation education and guest engagement. Hosting them here at TWP has allowed us to showcase a story of how animals contribute to global humanitarian efforts and conservation.”
Jessica Price, Chief of Staff at Tanganyika Wildlife Park
TRAVELING EXHIBITS AVAILABLE
APOPO is seeking zoos, museums and other institutional partners. Exhibits with rats are available from March 2026 onward in the United States, and require a three month minimum stay. Exhibits without rats are available in the US, UK and Europe, and can be made available within three months of signing an initial agreement with APOPO.
Exhibits can focus on HeroRAT’s mine action, wildlife detection, and tuberculosis detection work or a combination of the programs. Content can be adapted for different audiences, including for children’s museums.
If interested in hosting an exhibit, please contact exhibits@apopo.org for more information.
“I recently did the Hero Rat adventure, and I cannot give enough positive everything about the educators, trainers and the entire park. Thank you, Tanganyika Wildlife Park!”
Clyde P, Yelp Review
AMBASSADOR RATS
Several HeroRATs have been living as ambassadors at select US zoos since 2019s. These rats live in special enclosures off-exhibit, but are regularly brought out to meet guests in public encounters. Contact the affiliated zoos listed below to find out when and where you can see their resident HeroRAT ambassadors.
For more information, check APOPO’s social media and the following zoo’s websites as the scheduled hosting draws near.
APOPO’s exhibit has been at the Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard Kansas since June 2025. The Exhibit will move to Living Desert in November, where it will be hosted through February 2025.
Hosting zoo |
Schedule |
| Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, KS | June – August 2025 |
| The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, CA | December 2025 – TBD |
