Magawa
| Species | Tanzanian pouched rat |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Born | November 2013 Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania |
| Died | January 2022 (aged 8) Cambodia |
| Occupation | Landmine detector |
| Employer | APOPO |
| Awards | PDSA Gold Medal (2020) |
Magawa (November 2013 – January 2022) was an African giant pouched rat (Cricetomys ansorgei) that worked as a HeroRAT sniffing out landmines in Cambodia for the non-governmental organization APOPO (in English, Anti-Personnel Landmines Removal Product Development) which trains rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis. Magawa was the most successful landmine-sniffing rat in the organization's history, and received the PDSA Gold Medal in 2020.
Early life
[edit]Magawa was born in November 2013 at the APOPO headquarters in the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania. After being trained to sniff out landmines as a HeroRAT, he was moved to Siem Reap, Cambodia, in 2016 to begin landmine-removal work.[1][2]
Career
[edit]From 2016 to 2021, Magawa cleared more than 22.5 hectares (56 acres) of land in Cambodia. In that time, he found 71 landmines and 38 instances of other unexploded ordnance.[3][4] Magawa was trained to sniff out TNT in explosives, allowing him to disregard scrap metal that would confuse metal detectors.[5] He was able to search for landmines far faster than humans due to his exceptional sense of smell and light weight, which prevented him from detonating the mines.[2] He received the PDSA Gold Medal on September 25, 2020, for his work, and was the first rat to do so.[3][5] Magawa was the most successful mine-sniffing rat in APOPO's history when he received his medal,[5] and was described by the program's manager in Cambodia as a "very exceptional rat" upon his retirement.[4]
Retirement and death
[edit]Magawa retired from bomb sniffing in June 2021 owing to his old age, as is standard for APOPO's HeroRATs.[4] He spent a number of weeks mentoring 20 newly-recruited rats before ultimately retiring to a life of "snacking on bananas and peanuts".[6][7] Magawa died peacefully in early January 2022, and was the organization's most successful HeroRAT at the time of his death.[1][8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "In Loving Memory of Magawa". APOPO. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ a b Schaverien, Anna (11 January 2022). "Magawa, Rat That Hunted Land Mines, Dies in Retirement". New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ a b "PDSA Gold Medalist Magawa Retiring". APOPO. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ a b c "'Hero rat' Magawa retires from Cambodian bomb sniffing career". Al Jazeera. 5 June 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ a b c Schaverien, Anna (25 September 2020). "Rat That Sniffs Out Land Mines Receives Award for Bravery". New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Noori Farzan, Antonia (5 June 2021). "Cambodia's hero rat, Magawa, is retiring after sniffing out land mines for five years". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "Magawa the hero rat retires from job detecting landmines". BBC. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ "Magawa, the landmine-sniffing hero rat, dies aged eight". BBC. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.