In Tanzania, at the age of eight, a sapper rat named Magawa died. It is reported by the Belgian non-governmental organization APOPO, which trains rats to search for anti-personnel mines.
Magawa Photo: PDSA/APOPO
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that the hero Magawa died peacefully this weekend. Magawa was in good health and had spent most of the past week playing with enthusiasm, but towards the weekend he began to slow down, slept more and showed less interest in food. In November, Magawa celebrated his 8th birthday, ”the message says.
During his work, Magawa helped to find more than a hundred mines and other explosive devices. “Thanks to his contribution, people in Cambodia can live, work and play without fear of losing a body part,” added the NGO. In 2020, Magawa was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal, the highest honor an animal can receive for courage. Magawa retired and retired last year.
Magawa was born at Tanzanian University of Agriculture in 2013. There he underwent a training course and learned to smell explosive devices underground. Three years later, in 2016, he was sent to Cambodia, where he began to help people.
After the civil war (1967-1975) and other armed conflicts in Cambodia, several million mines were left scattered. Today Cambodia remains one of the most «mined» countries in the world. According to the Cambodian Victim Assistance Center, 11 people died in 2019 due to a mine explosion in the country, and another 60 were injured.