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A landmine-sniffing rat who won a gold medal for “life-saving devotion to duty” in Cambodia has been honored with a massive stone statue.
Magawa, a rat who gained fame in the country for sniffing out more than 100 mines (more than 1.5 million square feet) in his five-year career — more than any other rat in the country — retired in 2021 and died at eight years old in 2022.
The African giant pouched rat was trained by the Belgian charity APOPO to use his keen sense of smell to sniff out landmines and other explosives.
In Cambodia, more than 1 million people live and work in areas dotted with landmines, according to BBC News.
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Magawa, who died in 2022 after retiring, was honored last week with a statue. (Reuters/Cindy Liu; Carola Frentzen/picture alliance via Getty Images)
In 2020, Magawa received the PDSA Dickin medal for gallantry, which recognizes heroism in animals.
He was the first rat in the organization’s history going back to 1943 to win the award.
Local politicians and APOPO employees unveiled a statue of Magawa, the minesweeping rat, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on April 3, 2026, to mark International Mine Awareness Day. Magawa detected over 100 landmines and unexploded ordnance during his lifetime before his death in 2022. (Carola Frentzen/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
Magawa was able to walk over areas with land mines safely because of his light weight and would alert his handlers to a mine by scratching the surface, according to Smithsonian magazine. He would then receive a treat.
Magawa, the recently retired mine detection rat, sits in its cage at the APOPO Visitor Center in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on June 10, 2021. (Cindy Liu/Reuters)
“During his career, Magawa found over 100 landmines and other explosives, making him APOPO’s most successful HeroRAT to date,” the organization said in 2022, while announcing his death. “His contribution allows communities in Cambodia to live, work, and play; without fear of losing life or limb.”
Cambodia has the highest rate of landmine amputees per capita of any country.
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An APOPO employee presents a minesweeper rat in Siem Reap, Cambodia, during the unveiling of a monument to Magawa, the famous minesweeping rat, on April 3, 2026, marking International Mine Awareness Day. (Carola Frentzen/picture alliance via Getty Images)
APOPO added, “Every discovery he made reduced the risk of injury or death for the people of Cambodia.”
Magawa, the recently retired landmine detection rat, sits in a tube in its cage at the APOPO Visitor Center in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on June 10, 2021. (Cindy Liu/Reuters)
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The statue was unveiled in Siem Reap, Cambodia on April 3, just in time for the International Day for Mine Awareness on April 4.
