A famous mine-clearing rat, who was awarded a gold medal for his heroism, has been commemorated with the world's first statue dedicated to a landmine-detecting rat.
Magawa, who lived to eight years old, sniffed out over 100 landmines and other explosives in Cambodia during his five-year career that started in 2016.
A statue of the rodent carved from local stone by artists was unveiled in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Friday, in time for the International Day for Mine Awareness on 4 April.
Landmines remain an ongoing risk to Cambodia, and more than a million people continue to work and live on land contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance, according to the United Nations.
Magawa was trained by the Belgian charity Apopo before moving to Cambodia to begin his bomb-sniffing career in 2016. Using his acute sense of smell and training to detect a chemical compound within explosives, Magawa would then alert human handlers of mines that could be later safely removed.
During his time, Magawa cleared more than 141,000 square metres (1,517,711 sq ft) of land - the equivalent of 20 football pitches - and could search a field the size of a tennis court in just 20 minutes.
In 2020, Magawa was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal – known as the George Cross for animals – for his life-saving devotion to duty. He was the first rat to be given the medal in the charity's 77-year history.
Following a short retirement due to old age and slowing down, Magawa died in 2022. Apopo's Cambodia Programme Manager, Michael Raine, emphasized that Magawa's monument serves as a reminder for the international community that efforts are still needed to combat the dangers of landmines.
Cambodia aims to be mine-free by 2030, continuing the work initiated by the rats trained by Apopo since the 1990s. Due to their small size, these HeroRATS do not trigger mines and are considered a safer alternative to human deminers.
They can also detect tuberculosis and have trained to fight against illegal wildlife trafficking.
Another Apopo-trained rat named Ronin set a new world record in 2025 by uncovering a significant number of landmines and unexploded ordnance, surpassing Magawa's previous accomplishments.
