Rat who detected land mines in Cambodia dies in retirement

By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A land mine-detecting rat in Cambodia who received a prestigious award for his life-saving duty has died in retirement. APOPO, a Belgium-headquartered non-profit group, says the African giant pouched rat passed away last weekend. The organization trains rats and dogs to sniff out land mines and tuberculosis. In 2020, Magawa won a gold medal from the Britain-based People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, considered the highest award for gallantry an animal can receive. Magawa detected more than 100 land mines and other explosives before retiring last year. Almost three decades of civil war that ended in 1998 left Cambodia littered with unexploded ordnance. Magawa’s death came a day after three mine removal experts died in an anti-tank mine explosion in northern Cambodia.