:Magawa
{{Short description|Landmine-sniffing Tanzanian pouched rat (2013–2022)}}
{{infobox animal
| name = Magawa
| image =
| caption =
| image_size =
| species = Southern giant pouched rat
| gender = Male
| birth_date = {{Birth-date|November 2013}}
| birth_place = Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
| death_date = {{Death-date and age|January 2022|November 2013}}
| death_place = Cambodia
| occupation = Landmine detector
| employer = APOPO
| awards = PDSA Gold Medal (2020)
}}
File:HeroRAT rewarded.jpg being rewarded with a banana]]
File:Cricetomys gambianus Gambian giant Rat-1914404.jpg is a species of giant pouched rat.]]
Magawa (November 2013 – January 2022) was an Southern giant pouched rat (Cricetomys ansorgei) that worked as a HeroRAT sniffing out landmines in Cambodia for the non-governmental organization APOPO (in English, Anti-Personnel Landmines Removal Product Development) which trains rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis. Magawa was the most successful landmine-sniffing rat in the organization's history, and received the PDSA Gold Medal in 2020.
Early life
Magawa was born in November 2013 at the APOPO headquarters in the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania. After being trained to sniff out landmines as a HeroRAT, he was moved to Siem Reap, Cambodia, in 2016 to begin landmine-removal work.{{cite web |title=In Loving Memory of Magawa |url=https://www.apopo.org/en/latest/2022/01/In-Loving-Memory-of-Magawa |website=APOPO |access-date=17 January 2022 |date=11 January 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Schaverien |first1=Anna |title=Magawa, Rat That Hunted Land Mines, Dies in Retirement |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/11/world/europe/magawa-landmine-hero-rat-dead.html |website=New York Times |access-date=17 January 2022 |date=11 January 2022}}
Career
From 2016 to 2021, Magawa cleared more than {{convert|22.5|ha|acre}} of land in Cambodia. In that time, he found 71 landmines and 38 instances of other unexploded ordnance.{{cite web |title=PDSA Gold Medalist Magawa Retiring |url=https://www.apopo.org/en/latest/2021/06/PDSA-Gold-Medalist-Magawa-Retiring |website=APOPO |access-date=17 January 2022 |date=3 June 2021}}{{cite web |title='Hero rat' Magawa retires from Cambodian bomb sniffing career |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/5/hero-rat-magawa-retires-from-cambodian-bomb-sniffing-career |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=17 January 2022 |language=en |date=5 June 2021}} Magawa was trained to sniff out TNT in explosives, allowing him to disregard scrap metal that would confuse metal detectors.{{cite web |last1=Schaverien |first1=Anna |title=Rat That Sniffs Out Land Mines Receives Award for Bravery |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/world/europe/giant-rat-magawa-medal.html |website=New York Times |access-date=17 January 2022 |date=25 September 2020}} He was able to search for landmines far faster than humans due to his exceptional sense of smell and light weight, which prevented him from detonating the mines. He received the PDSA Gold Medal on September 25, 2020, for his work, and was the first rat to do so. Magawa was the most successful mine-sniffing rat in APOPO's history when he received his medal, and was described by the program's manager in Cambodia as a "very exceptional rat" upon his retirement.
Retirement and death
Magawa retired from bomb sniffing in June 2021 owing to his old age, as is standard for APOPO's HeroRATs. He spent a number of weeks mentoring 20 newly-recruited rats before ultimately retiring to a life of "snacking on bananas and peanuts".{{cite news |first=Antonia Noori|last=Farzan|authorlink=Antonia Noori Farzan|title=Cambodia's hero rat, Magawa, is retiring after sniffing out land mines for five years |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/06/05/magawa-hero-rat-retires-cambodia/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=17 January 2022 |date=5 June 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-57345703.amp|title=Magawa the hero rat retires from job detecting landmines|date=11 June 2021|access-date=5 February 2022|publisher=BBC}} Magawa died peacefully in early January 2022, and was the organization's most successful HeroRAT at the time of his death.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-59951255.amp|title=Magawa, the landmine-sniffing hero rat, dies aged eight|date=11 January 2022|access-date=5 February 2022|publisher=BBC}}