A UK veterinary charity, PDSA, has awarded an African giant pouched rat a gold medal for “life-saving devotion to duty.”
Magawa has sniffed out 39 landmines and 28 unexploded munitions in Cambodia during his career. Trained by the Belgium-registered charity Apopo, so-called ‘HeroRATs have been taught to detect landmines and tuberculosis since the 1990s.
Magawa is the first rat to receive the award, which has honoured 30 animals.
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