Camboadian Landmine-Sniffing Hero Rat “Magawa” Passes Away at the Age of 8
HERO RAT – Cambodia’s hero rat named “Magawa” that hunted land mines has already passed away at the age of eight (8).
Magawa, the landmine-sniffing rat of Cambodia has been born on November 2013 at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. The mammal uses his sense of smell to locate explosives.
After three years, the rat has been brought to Siem Reap, Cambodia in 2016. He international charity APOPO said that Magawa has been the most successful “HeroRAT”.
The landmine sniffing rat was able to find more than 100 landmines and explosives within five years of its career before retiring in June 2021. The rat helps to make Cambodia a safe place to live, work and play.
Cambodia is one of the world’s most heavily landmined countries. Over 1,000 sq km of the land are still contaminated, which injured about 40,000 people. three members of Cambodia Self-Help Demining group even passed away due to land mines.
APOPO is training rats to detect explosive chemicals used in landmines using their amazing sense of smell. The organization said that the rat was still in good health a few week before he passes away.
“Magawa was in good health and spent most of last week playing with his usual enthusiasm, but towards the weekend he started to slow down, napping more and showing less interest in food in his last days,” APOPO said.
The Britain’s People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals gave the Hero Rat a gold medal in 2020 for its contribution. Magawa’s contribution was able to clear over 225,000 square meters of land.
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