He was dubbed a “hero rat” after he sniffed out more than 100 land mines and other explosives in Cambodia. But after a short retirement, Magawa died Sunday, according to the charity APOPO.
He was dubbed a “hero rat” after he sniffed out more than 100 land mines and other explosives in Cambodia., which trained him in Tanzania before assigning him to the Southeast Asian country in 2016.
“Because the handlers loved him so much, they utilized him more than others, which is also a factor in why he found so many items,” he added. Using an excellent sense of smell and memory, the rats 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, which also trains the creatures to detect tuberculosis, says on its website.