PopsnTuff
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"Every discovery he makes reduces the risk of injury or death for local people," said PDSA director general Jan McLoughlin.
They get a bad rep, especially for being dirty.
But one rat redeemed his species on Friday becoming the first rodent to receive a gold medal for his work in sniffing out unexploded landmines and saving countless lives in Cambodia.
Magawa, a so-called "hero rat" was presented with a small blue collar and mini-gold medal by the British veterinary charity the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) on Friday.
"Magawa's work directly saves and changes the lives of men, women and children who are impacted by these landmines. Every discovery he makes reduces the risk of injury or death for local people," PDSA director general Jan McLoughlin, said in a statement.
"We are thrilled to award him the PDSA Gold Medal."
The African Giant-Pouched Rat was trained to detect landmines by Belgium-based charity APOPO.
Using an excellent sense of smell and memory, Magawa has discovered 39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordnance and can search an area the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes, something that would take a human with a metal detector up to four days, the charity said.
"Unlike metal detectors, the rats ignore scrap metal and only sniff out explosives making them fast and efficient landmine detectors," said Christophe Cox, chief executive of APOPO, the non-profit organization which trained Magawa. It also trains the creatures to detect tuberculosis.
(Kinda looks like a big squirrel, lol.....btw my daughter lives and works in Cambodia)
They get a bad rep, especially for being dirty.
But one rat redeemed his species on Friday becoming the first rodent to receive a gold medal for his work in sniffing out unexploded landmines and saving countless lives in Cambodia.
Magawa, a so-called "hero rat" was presented with a small blue collar and mini-gold medal by the British veterinary charity the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) on Friday.
"Magawa's work directly saves and changes the lives of men, women and children who are impacted by these landmines. Every discovery he makes reduces the risk of injury or death for local people," PDSA director general Jan McLoughlin, said in a statement.
"We are thrilled to award him the PDSA Gold Medal."
The African Giant-Pouched Rat was trained to detect landmines by Belgium-based charity APOPO.
Using an excellent sense of smell and memory, Magawa has discovered 39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordnance and can search an area the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes, something that would take a human with a metal detector up to four days, the charity said.
"Unlike metal detectors, the rats ignore scrap metal and only sniff out explosives making them fast and efficient landmine detectors," said Christophe Cox, chief executive of APOPO, the non-profit organization which trained Magawa. It also trains the creatures to detect tuberculosis.
(Kinda looks like a big squirrel, lol.....btw my daughter lives and works in Cambodia)