A famous mine-detecting rat, who received a gold medal for his heroism, has been commemorated with the world’s first statue dedicated to a mine-detecting rat.
Can be done, who lived to eight yearshas detected more than 100 landmines and other explosives in Cambodia during his five-year career which began in 2016.
A statue of the rodent carved from local stone by artists was unveiled Friday in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in time for International Mine Awareness Day, April 4.
Landmines remain an ongoing risk for 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.
Magawa, a giant African rat, was trained by Belgian charity Apopo before moving to Cambodia to begin his bomb-sniffing career in 2016.
Using his keen sense of smell and training to detect a chemical compound in the explosives, Magawa would then alert human operators to the mines which could then be safely removed.
In his time, Magawa cleared more than 141,000 square meters (1,517,711 square feet) of land – the equivalent of 20 football fields – and was able to excavate an area 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 “dedication to duty which saved lives”. He was the first rat to receive this medal in the association’s 77-year history.
After a short retirement due to old age and “to slow down”Magawa died in 2022.
Apopo Cambodia program manager Michael Raine said Friday that the Magawa monument “reminds the international community that there is still work to be done here.”
Cambodia has now set a goal of becoming mine-free by 2030, he added.
The association has been training its rodents, also known as HeroRATS, since the 1990s.
Due to their small size, rats are not heavy enough to detonate mines, making them a safer option than humans.
They can even detect tuberculosisan infectious disease that typically affects the lungs, much more quickly than it would be detected in a laboratory using conventional microscopy, Apopo said.
They have also been trained to prevent illegal wildlife trafficking in Tanzania.
Ronin’s impressive work in northern Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province has surpassed the previous record held in Magawa.