Why Cambodia Built a Giant Rat Statue Wearing a Medal of Honor
We erect statues to honor the memory of those who represented the best of us, who lived courageously and exemplified qualities we should all aspire to. Sometimes this person is a philanthropist or a war hero. Sometimes that person is an explosive mine-detecting rat in Cambodia named Magawa.
Cambodian officials officially unveiled a seven-foot-tall statue honoring Magawa, a rat trained by APOPO, a nonprofit organization that trains animals to detect mines left as dangerous remnants of war. If you think that sounds absurd, wait until you see some of the numbers Magawa puts up. This little rat filled the stat sheet.
During Magawa’s five-year career, he helped locate more than 100 landmines and cleared about 1.5 million square feet of formerly explosive land. That’s roughly the size of 26 football pitches, which people can now walk across without worrying about being blown to pieces.
Cambodia just gave a giant statue to a rat with a better military record than most people
Cambodia was a nation gripped by war for several years, including one with the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, which left millions of explosive devices buried across the country. They are not disabled at the end. They remain active threats buried under the sand, unannounced to innocent bystanders, years or decades after the conflicts they were supposed to fight.
Magawa’s job was to detect explosive chemicals like TNT across tennis court-sized areas within about 20 minutes, work that would take human days if you could even find anyone willing to do it. When he found something, he gave the ground a little scratch. There was nothing theatrical about it. He wasn’t waving a little flag or anything. With a simple movement reminiscent of a dog trying to find its favorite toy, Magawa let his handlers know that there was an active explosive device buried underground.
If you’re wondering how he didn’t explode, it’s because Magawa is an African giant marsupial, a species that, despite the word “giant” in its name, is actually quite light, or at least light enough not to set off a mine. They also have a keen sense of smell, sensitive enough to detect chemical compounds buried beneath the surface. Add the promise of a banana slice for a job well done, and you’ve got yourself a rat that can quickly and efficiently find long-abandoned active landmines.
In 2020, Magawa became the first rat to receive the PDSA Gold Medal, essentially recognizing him as a decorated veteran of a war that technically already ended. He retired in 2021 and died a year later. And now, in 2026, he is forever honored for his diligent work in saving lives he didn’t even know he was saving, because for him it wasn’t about saving lives; it was about the sweet, delicious bananas.
Not everyone who does good things is altruistic, but hey, they still did good things.
