PDSA Glod medalist rat 'Magawa' retires after 5 years of sniffing land mines in Cambodia

Magawa is retiring after five years of sniffing out land mines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia. The seven-year-old African giant pouched rodent was born in Tanzania in November 2013. He has been trained and overseen by a Belgian nonprofit, APOPO-- Magwa helped clear land mines and alerted its human handlers so the explosives can be safely removed. 

Magawa's Career 

According to APOPO, so far, Magawa has cleared more than 141,000 square meters (1.5 million square feet) of land that is equivalent to some 20 soccer fields. He sniffed out 71 land mines and 38 items of unexploded ordnance.  And last year he won a British charity’s top civilian award for animal bravery-- an honour so far exclusively reserved for dogs.

APOPO said that the rodent is still in good health but has reached his retirement age and is clearly starting to slow down. While many rodents can be trained to detect scents and will work at repetitive tasks for food rewards. These African giant pouched rats were best suited to land mine clearance because their size allows them to walk across minefields without triggering the explosives – and do it much more quickly than people. They also live up to eight years.

Rat Magawa Wins Bravery Award For Discovering 39 Mines

Earlier this year, Magawa won the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Award for bravery after he sniffed 39 mines in Cambodia. On Friday, September 25, PDSA, on their social media handle, revealed that Magawa became the first rat to have a bravery award for discovering 39 mines over 141 metres of land over four years. Magawa won PSDA's Gold Medal for his life-saving work. The award is equivalent to George Cross and Victoria Cross gallantry medals. The rat was trained to sniff landmines by APOPO. Interestingly, according to APOPO, Magawa is the first rat to receive a PDSA Medal in 77 years of their charity history. 

(Image Credits: PDSA AP)