Hero Landmine-Sniffing Rat Honored With Statue After Detecting 100 Mines

A carved stone statue now stands along the Siem Reap riverbank in honor of a rat who spent five years doing what no human could safely replicate: walking Cambodia's landmine-riddled fields and flagging buried explosives with a precise scratch of his front paws.

Cambodia unveiled the tribute to Magawa, an African giant pouched rat trained by the Belgian NGO APOPO, on April 3 at APOPO's headquarters in Siem Reap province. Senior Minister Ly Thuch, First Vice President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, presided over the ceremony.

"Before us stands Magawa, a small creature, yet one who changed the ground beneath our feet," Ly Thuch said at the unveiling. "For years, Cambodia lived with land that could not be trusted. Fields held danger. Paths carried uncertainty. Families measured every step. But Magawa moved through that same land with calm precision."

During his five-year operational career from 2016 to 2020, Magawa detected more than 100 landmines and items of unexploded ordnance across Cambodia, clearing over 141,000 square metres of land. His olfactory abilities allowed him to detect chemical compounds in explosives without triggering them, and his small size meant he could cover ground quickly without setting off pressure-activated devices.

Magawa was born in November 2013 at APOPO's training facility at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania, before being deployed to Cambodia three years later. In September 2020, the British veterinary charity People's Dispensary for Sick Animals awarded him its Gold Medal for bravery, making him the first rat in the organization's then-77-year history to receive the distinction. He retired from active duty that same year and died in January 2022 at the age of eight.

The statue, carved by Cambodian artisans from local stone, depicts Magawa wearing the harness and gold medal he carried in life. Its placement along the riverbank outside APOPO's Siem Reap headquarters situates it near the fields where much of his detection work was concentrated.

The timing carried deliberate symbolic weight. The unveiling fell the day before the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, observed annually on April 4, under this year's theme: "Invest in Peace; Invest in Mine Action." Cambodia remains among the world's most heavily landmine-contaminated nations, still grappling with munitions left from conflicts spanning the 1960s through the 1990s.

"Mine clearance is more than a technical task; it is the foundation of peace and human dignity," Ly Thuch said. "Magawa helped restore that lost confidence. Because of his work, children can play safely, and farmers can till their land without fear."

APOPO's HeroRAT program continues in Cambodia. A successor rat named Ronin has since surpassed Magawa's detection record, identifying 109 landmines and 15 items of unexploded ordnance since beginning service in 2021, according to APOPO. The stone figure in Siem Reap now ensures the original HeroRAT is not forgotten.