Smell you later! Bomb-sniffing rat retires after award-winning Cambodian career
Magawa, the big cheese among bomb-sniffing rats, is set to retire after a stellar life-saving career in the field.
A giant African pouched rat called Magawa who spent years sniffing out landmines in the Cambodian countryside has stopped working and will enjoy a well-earned retirement eating bananas and peanuts.
Magawa, originally from Tanzania, was trained by the Belgian charity APOPO which says the rodent helped clear mines from 225 000 square metres of land in his five-year career, the equivalent of 42 football pitches.
71 landmines and 38 unexploded ordnance
But after detecting 71 landmines and 38 items of unexploded ordnance “he is getting a bit tired”, Michael Heiman, the charity’s programme manager in Cambodia, told AFP on Saturday.