Rat wins animal hero award for sniffing out landmines

By News Desk
September 26, 2020

LONDON: A rat has for the first time won a British charity’s top civilian award for animal bravery, receiving the honor for searching out unexploded landmines in Cambodia. Magawa, a giant African pouched rat, was awarded the PDSA’s Gold Medal for his “lifesaving bravery and devotion” after discovering 39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordinance in the past seven years, according to the charity. Magawa was trained by a Belgian organization that has taught rats to find landmines for more than 20 years.

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