3 days ago

Claire Keenan

Reuters

The statue of Magawa is made from local stone

A famous mine-clearing rat, who was awarded a gold medal for his heroism, has been commemorated with the world's first statue dedicated to a landmine-detecting rat.

Magawa, who lived to eight years old, sniffed out over 100 landmines and other explosives in Cambodia during his five-year career that started in 2016.

A statue of the rodent carved from local stone by artists was unveiled in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Friday, in time for the International Day for Mine Awareness on 4 April.

Landmines remain an ongoing risk to Cambodia, and more than a million people continue to work and live on land contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance, according to the United Nations.

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Magawa was pictured in 2010 with his PDSA medal for gallantry - sometimes described as the George Cross for animals.

Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, was trained by the Belgian charity Apopo before moving to Cambodia to begin his bomb-sniffing career in 2016.

Using his acute sense of smell and training to detect a chemical compound within explosives, Magawa would then alert human handlers of mines that could be later safely removed.

During his time, Magawa cleared more than 141,000 square metres (1,517,711 sq ft) of land - the equivalent of 20 football pitches – and could search a field the size of a tennis court in just 20 minutes.

In 2020, Magawa was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal – known as the George Cross for animals – for his "life-saving devotion to duty". He was the first rat to be given the medal in the charity's 77-year history.

Following a short retirement due to old age and "slowing down", Magawa died in 2022.

Apopo's Cambodia Programme Manager, Michael Raine, said on Friday the monument for Magawa "is a reminder to the international community that there's still a job to be done here".

Cambodia now has a target date of 2030 to become mine-free, he added.

The charity has been training its rodents, also known as HeroRATS, since the 1990s.

Because of their small size, the rats are not heavy enough to detonate mines, making them a safer option than humans.

They can even detect tuberculosis, an infectious disease that commonly affects the lungs, far quicker than it would be found in a lab using conventional microscopy, Apopo has said.

They have also been trained to prevent illegal wildlife trafficking in Tanzania.

Ronin's impressive work in Cambodia's northern Preah Vihear province surpassed the previous record held Magawa.

Giant rats in tiny vests fight crime