Magawa spent five years searching for landmines in Cambodia. He helped clear mines in an area of 225,000 square meters. In his career, he found 71 land mines and 38 other explosives.
‘Satisfying’
The Belgian foundation Apopo, which trained Magawa, reports his death to the AFP news agency. “We all feel the loss of Magawa and are grateful for the incredible work he has done,” the foundation writes.
In September 2020, Magawa received another high award for his life-saving work. In this video you can see how he did it:
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Magawa retired in June last year. His owner Michael Heiman then told us that the rat seemed ‘a bit tired’ and therefore it was decided to let him go.
Deteriorated quickly
According to Apopo, the rat has enjoyed his retirement in recent months and played until last week “with the usual enthusiasm.” Over the weekend, however, he quickly deteriorated and “lost interest in food.”
The detective rat was trained by the Belgians to smell the chemicals in explosives. He was kept on a leash by his owner throughout his career and was not heavy enough to detonate the mines. When he found something, he started digging and was rewarded with something tasty.
Magawa was also fast: in half an hour he explored an area the size of a tennis court. With a normal detector, that would take four days. Magawa has been followed by about twenty other rats.
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