To identify explosives, drugs or diseases, people mainly use dogs and their great sense of smell. However, there are other animals that can help humans. The Belgian non-profit organization APOPO (Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling) focuses on training giant rats.
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They are trained to detect landmines and also to detect tuberculosis in humans. The organization was founded in the late 1990s and now has 45 rats looking for explosives and 31 rats capable of detecting tuberculosis in patients.
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However, the male Magawa stands out among the others, which is why he was awarded the medal of the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals). He became the first rat in the 77-year history of this organization to receive a significant award.
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During his deployment in Cambodia, where more than 6 million landmines were laid between 1975 and 1998, causing 64,000 deaths, Magawa swept over 141,000 square meters of land and uncovered 39 landmines. He is now retiring.
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“Magawav’s work directly saves and changes the lives of women, men and children. Every discovery he makes reduces the risk of death or injury for a local risk, ”said PDSA Director Jan McCoughlin.
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Faster than a person with a detector
It takes the organization about a year to train the rat to smell the chemicals in the explosives. But animals can then detect a mine about 96 times faster than standard methods.
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Magawa can search a mined area the size of a tennis court in half an hour, which would take a person with a detector four days. Half-hour intervals are then the maximum of the time that the rat “works” during the day. They must be deployed very early in the morning, when they are most active.
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The giant rat (sometimes also the Gambian rat or the Gambian hamster) is a large rodent that can grow up to the size of a cat. He lives all over sub-Saharan Africa, where he has no natural enemies except man. However, it is very popular with people because of the meat.
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In the Czech Republic, giant rats can be found in the Prague Zoo, which received a couple of these animals in 2019 from a private breeder.
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