Multiple Award Winning Cambodian Landmine Sniffing Rat Magawa Dies
My Geek Score: The Tanzanian-born, African giant pouched, Magawa rat dies at the age of 8 on Tuesday.
Although the Southern African giant pouched rat had poor eyesight but has an extraordinary sense of smell.
Thus, the Magawa rat is known for sniffing explosive chemicals used in the landmines and saving thousands of human lives.
In 2020, the Magawa rat won a gold medal from the United Kingdom’s People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals for “lifesaving bravery and devotion to duty.”
However, Magawa was the first rat to win this award ever.
The Magawa rat was born in 2013 in Tanzania’s Sokoine University of Agriculture and later trained by Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development (APOPO).
APOPO is a Belgian non-government and US non-profit organization that tutors southern states’ giant pouched rats to sniff explosives from landmines. After training, the rats are called “Hero Rats.”
Three years later, he was shifted to Cambodia, where he started to work.
The landmines hero, the Magawa rat, pensioned last year. However, in his career of 5 years, he gave green signals to 2.4 million square feet of land, including 71 landmines and 38 unexplored items. In 2021, Magawa received one of Britain’s highest animal honors.
The average life span of a Southern African giant pouched rat is 8-9 years, and the Magawa rat dies after he celebrated his 8th birthday in November 2021, i.e., at the age of 8 years, which means he leads a healthy life. However, they need 2 hours of running or physical activity every day for a quality life span.
Magawa spent his endmost time playing, but he pulled back himself towards the oblivion.
He started to nap more and showed less interest in the food he liked.
On his demise, APOPO said that Magawa rat was the rewarding Hero Rat of the organization. His donation to Cambodian people will never be forgotten and made the life of Cambodian communities playful without any harm.
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