Mine-sniffing rat gets gold medal from England

PHNOM PENH: A mine-sniffing rat in Cambodia has become a global sensation after it found almost 70 mines and unexploded ordnance in the country’s minefields.

The rat, named Magawa, is used by the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and it recently received a medal from the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals in England for its work.

According to a Phnom Penh Post report, it is the first gold medal given to a rodent.

CMAC director-general Heng Ratana posted on Facebook that Magawa found 39 landmines and 28 units of unexploded ordnance in Siem Reap and Preah Vihear.

“I want to say that Cambodia is not only famous for using rats in mine clearance, but our minesniffing dogs are also ahead of the world,” he wrote.

Trained by Apopo, a Belgian non-governmental organisation, which trains the southern giant pouched rats to detect land mines, Magawa is among its many mine-sniffing rats.

Apopo Belgium programme manager Michael Heiman said Magawa arrived in Cambodia from Argentina in 2016. It has since been working in Siem Reap, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear provinces.

Apopo’s website said the organisation was glad to declare that Magawa is a hero rewarded for bravery.

An African giant rat born in Tanzania in 2014, it was trained to smell explosive ordnance by Apopo rat trainers in Argentina.

When Magawa smells the chemicals in mines it will give a sign to its operator. The operator then checks the place before clearing it.

Magawa has so far helped clear over 141,000 sqm of land.

Since the 1970s, it’s estimated that four to six million landmines were laid in Cambodia with three million still undiscovered. .