Thread: Not a Pest : R.I. P. Magawa, Land-Mine Sniffing Rat!!

This is one of those remarkable stories we all want to read about.

Magawa, an African giant pouch rat, was trained to sniff out land-mines, and in its 5-year career located over 100 of them in Cambodia for disposal.

Quoting from the article below* :

"Trained to detect a chemical compound within the explosives, Magawa cleared more than 141,000 square metres (1,517,711 sq ft) of land - the equivalent of 20 football pitches."

and

"Magawa was capable of searching a field the size of a tennis court in just 20 minutes - something Apopo says would take a person with a metal detector between one and four days."

end quotes

Can't speak for everyone, but it gives me a new appreciation for an often vilified rodent. Magawa was quite a hero, and a very sharp rat as well!!


"Magawa, the landmine-sniffing hero rat, dies aged eight"

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59951255