Animals are known to have stronger senses than humans, from their listening senses, smelling ability, and even reflexes. Magawa, a landmine detector rat, just happens to be one of those animals.
The seven-year-old landmine detector was retiring after detecting landmines for five years in Cambodia. Magawa spent a significant part of his life looking for landmines after receiving training for a year in Tanzania.
Rats like Magawa, commonly referred to as hero rats require a year of training before they are qualified. This way, they can easily detect the chemical used in land mines.
On average, it would take Magwawa an average of 20 minutes to survey an area the size of a tennis court, which would take a person using a metal detector between one and four days.
However, Magawa handlers mentioned that it was time for him to retire because he was “slowing down,” and they wanted to respect that. At some point, time catches up with all living things.
However, for this hero rat, he’s managed to detect over 71 landmines through his five years as a landmine detector. Despite his size, he managed to save a lot of lives.
For a hero with such an important job, we are sure his retirement plan was well-financed, and is enjoying the most of it. Magawa’s heroic acts will forever be remembered.
