Magawa, a well-known landmine-sniffing rat honored with statue in Cambodia

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A landmine-sniffing rat who gained a gold medal for "life-saving devotion to obligation" in Cambodia has been honored with an enormous stone statue.

Magawa, a rat who gained fame within the nation for sniffing out greater than 100 mines (greater than 1.5 million sq. toes) in his five-year profession — greater than every other rat within the nation — retired in 2021 and died at eight years previous in 2022.

The African big pouched rat was skilled by the Belgian charity APOPO to make use of his eager sense of odor to smell out landmines and different explosives.

In Cambodia, greater than 1 million folks reside and work in areas dotted with landmines, based on BBC Information.

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Magawa, who died in 2022 after retiring, was honored final week with a statue. (Reuters/Cindy Liu; Carola Frentzen/image alliance through Getty Pictures)

In 2020, Magawa acquired the PDSA Dickin medal for gallantry, which acknowledges heroism in animals.

He was the primary rat within the group’s historical past going again to 1943 to win the award.

Native politicians and APOPO workers unveiled a statue of Magawa, the minesweeping rat, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on April 3, 2026, to mark Worldwide Mine Consciousness Day. Magawa detected over 100 landmines and unexploded ordnance throughout his lifetime earlier than his loss of life in 2022. (Carola Frentzen/Image Alliance through Getty Pictures)

Magawa was capable of stroll over areas with land mines safely due to his mild weight and would alert his handlers to a mine by scratching the floor, based on Smithsonian journal. He would then obtain a deal with.

Magawa, the lately retired mine detection rat, sits in its cage on the APOPO Customer Middle in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on June 10, 2021. (Cindy Liu/Reuters)

"Throughout his profession, Magawa discovered over 100 landmines and different explosives, making him APOPO’s most profitable HeroRAT to this point," the group stated in 2022, whereas asserting his loss of life. "His contribution permits communities in Cambodia to reside, work, and play; with out concern of shedding life or limb."

Cambodia has the very best charge of landmine amputees per capita of any nation.

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<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/04/672/378/magawa-minesweeper-rat-statue-cambodia-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/04/1344/756/magawa-minesweeper-rat-statue-cambodia-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"> An APOPO worker presents a minesweeper rat in Siem Reap, Cambodia, throughout the unveiling of a monument to Magawa, the well-known minesweeping rat, on April 3, 2026, marking Worldwide Mine Consciousness Day. (Carola Frentzen/image alliance through Getty Pictures)

APOPO added, "Each discovery he made decreased the danger of damage or loss of life for the folks of Cambodia."

Magawa, the lately retired landmine detection rat, sits in a tube in its cage on the APOPO Customer Middle in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on June 10, 2021. (Cindy Liu/Reuters)