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Cambodia Honors Heroic Landmine-Detecting Rat with Statue - Oz Arab Media
Spread the loveArabic version: كمبوديا تكرم الجرذ البطل الذي يكشف الألغام بتمثال Cambodia has unveiled a statue dedicated to Magawa, a renowned landmine-sniffing rat who was awarded a gold medal for his bravery. This unique tribute marks the world’s first statue honoring a landmine-detecting rat, recognizing Magawa’s significant contributions during his five-year career that began in 2016. The statue, crafted from local stone by artists, was revealed in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Friday, in time for the International Day for Mine Awareness on 4 April. According to BBC News, landmines continue to pose a serious threat in Cambodia, where over a million people live and work on land contaminated by explosives. Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, was trained by the Belgian charity Apopo. He successfully detected more than 100 landmines and other explosives, clearing over 141,000 square meters of land, which is roughly equivalent to 20 football pitches. His ability to search a tennis court-sized area in just 20 minutes showcased his exceptional skills. In 2020, he received the PDSA Gold Medal, often referred to as the George Cross for animals, making him the first rat in the organization’s 77-year history to achieve this honor. Following his retirement due to age-related decline, Magawa passed away in 2022. Michael Raine, Apopo’s Cambodia Programme Manager, stated that the statue serves as a reminder to the international community of the ongoing efforts needed to address the landmine crisis in Cambodia, which aims to be mine-free by 2030. Apopo has been utilizing trained rodents, known as HeroRATS, since the 1990s for various tasks, including detecting tuberculosis and combating illegal wildlife trafficking.
Statue Honoring Hero Landmine-Detecting Rat - Memesita
Tiny Paws, Big Impact: Why a Statue for a Landmine-Sniffing Rat is the Ultimate Humanitarian Tribute By Mira Takahashi, World Editor A permanent statue has been established to honor a late African giant pouched rat that detected more than 100 landmines, marking a rare and significant shift in how we memorialize humanitarian heroes. While we usually reserve monuments for generals or diplomats, this tribute acknowledges a non-human actor in the high-stakes field of explosive ordnance disposal. Let’s be honest: there is something almost absurd about a rodent receiving a statue. But when you look at the numbers, the absurdity vanishes and is replaced by pure efficiency. We are talking about animals that can clear an area the size of a tennis court in about 30 minutes. For a human with a metal detector? That same patch of land takes four days. In the world of humanitarian clearance, that time difference isn’t just a statistic—it’s the difference between a community living in fear and a community reclaiming its land. The Record-Breakers: Ronin and Magawa The scale of this achievement is best highlighted by the records. Ronin, an African giant pouched rat, set a new world record by uncovering 109 landmines and 15 items of unexploded ordnance since 2021. This feat surpassed the previous record held by Magawa, who sniffed out 71 mines and was awarded a gold medal for heroism in 2020. These "HeroRATS," as the Tanzania-based charity Apopo calls them, are specifically chosen for their biological advantages. Their acute olfactory capabilities allow them to identify the chemicals in buried explosives with precision. More importantly, their light weight ensures they can walk over pressure-plate mines without detonating them—a luxury human technicians do not have. The Human Cost and the Rodent Solution The necessity for such unconventional partners is stark. Cambodia remains littered with millions of unexploded munitions following a civil war that ended in 1998. For decades, civilians have lived with the constant threat that one misstep could be their last. Training these animals is no quick fix; it takes about one year to train each rat to detect landmines. Currently, Apopo employs 104 rodent recruits to mitigate these ground-based threats. But the utility of these rats extends beyond the battlefield. Apopo reports that these animals can also detect tuberculosis—an infectious lung disease—far more quickly than conventional microscopy in a lab. A New Standard for Recogni...
Cambodia unveils statue honouring “Hero Rat” Magawa for life-saving mine detection - Khmer Times
During his five-year career (2016-2020), he sniffed out more than 100 landmines and unexploded ordnance, clearing over 141,000 square metres of land. His bravery earned him the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Gold Medal in 2000.
Hero Landmine-Sniffing Rat Honored With Statue After Detecting 100 ...
Hero Landmine-Sniffing Rat Honored With Statue After Detecting 100 Mines A stone statue of Magawa, the African giant pouched rat who cleared over 141,000 square metres of Cambodian minefields, was unveiled in Siem Reap on April 3.
