Latest news with #Magawa
South China Morning Post
11-05-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Ronin the rat sets Guinness World Record for landmine detection in Cambodia
A rat trained to find landmines in Cambodia has set a new world record. The rodent discovered over 100 landmines and unexploded objects, according to a charity report from last month. Ronin is a large African pouched rat. Since being deployed to northern Preah Vihear province in August 2021, he has found 109 landmines and 15 other dangerous remnants of war, according to the Belgian charity APOPO. Five-year-old Ronin has been named the most successful Mine Detection Rat (MDR) in the organisation's history. 'His exceptional accomplishments have earned him the Guinness World Records title for most landmines detected by a rat, highlighting the critical role of HeroRats in humanitarian demining,' APOPO said. Ronin beat the previous record, held by hero rodent Magawa. Magawa found 71 landmines and 38 unexploded ordnances during his five-year service before retirement in 2021. Magawa, a hero recognised with a gold medal, cleared landmines from approximately 225,000 square meters of land, which is about the size of 42 football pitches. He passed away in 2022. Cambodia is littered with mines, discarded ammunition and other arms from decades of war starting in the 1960s. After more than 30 years of civil war ended in 1998, Cambodia was left as one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Deaths from mines and unexploded ordnance are still common, with around 20,000 fatalities since 1979, and twice that number wounded. Agence France-Presse Questions Why is it important to find landmines, even from many years ago? Why are rats better than humans at finding landmines?
Arab Times
06-04-2025
- General
- Arab Times
Rat sets new Guinness World Record for sniffing out landmines
PHNOM PENH, April 6, (Xinhua): A mine-sniffing rat has earned a Guinness World Records title for sniffing more than 100 landmines and items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Cambodia, charity APOPO said in a news release on Friday. Ronin, an African giant pouched rat (Cricetomys ansorgei), has achieved the distinction of being the most successful Mine Detection Rat (MDR) in the organization's history, the news release said. "His exceptional accomplishments have earned him the Guinness World Records title for most landmines detected by a rat, highlighting the critical role of HeroRATs in humanitarian demining," it said. Since his deployment to Preah Vihear province in northwest Cambodia in August 2021, Ronin has detected an impressive 109 landmines and 15 items of UXO, surpassing the previous record held by the legendary HeroRAT Magawa, who identified 71 landmines and 38 pieces of UXO during his five-year service, it added. Magawa, who won a gold medal for his mine-detection work in Cambodia, died at the age of eight in 2022. Ronin's work is far from finished, the news release said, adding that at just five years old, he may have two years or more of detection work ahead of him, continuing to build on his already record-breaking total. Cambodia is one of countries worst affected by landmines and UXO. An estimated 4 million to 6 million landmines and other munitions had been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998. An official report showed that from 1979 to 2024, landmine and UXO explosions had claimed 19,834 lives and maimed 45,252 others. The Southeast Asian country is committed to getting rid of all types of landmines and UXO by 2030.
Daily Tribune
05-04-2025
- General
- Daily Tribune
Cambodia's sniffer rat earns world record
A landmine-hunting rat in Cambodia has set a new world record by sniffing out more than 100 mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance, a charity said yesterday. Ronin, agiant African pouched rat, has tracked down 109 landmines and 15 other potentially deadly war remnants since his deployment to northern Preah Vihear province in August 2021, the Belgian charity APOPO said in a statement. Five-year-old Ronin has been named the most successful Mine Detection Rat (MDR) in the organisation's history. Ronin beat the previous record, held by hero rodent Magawa who found 71 landmines and 38 UXOs during his five-year service before retirement in 2021. Magawa, who was awarded a gold medal for heroism for clearing mines from about 225,000 square metres of land -- the equivalent of 42 football pitches -- died in 2022. Ronin may have two years or more of detection work ahead of him, APOPO said.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Hero rat sets Guinness World Record for detecting landmines
Landmines remain an ever present danger on battlefields. That's for both soldiers in an active conflict and civilians once a war is over. Millions of anti-personnel landmines are buried around the world, and while groups work to remove them safely, in recent years they've turned to a novel tool to help: Rats. And one rat based out of Cambodia has now detected more landmines than any other rat in history. Meet Ronin. Ronin has detected 109 landmines and 15 items of unexploded ordnance since 2021. That's according to both APOPO, the charity that trained the African giant pouched rat, and the Guinness Book of World Records, which declared Ronin the new record holder. He's currently working in Preah Vihear Province in Cambodia, one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records announced Ronin's achievement on April 4, which happens to be both International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action and World Rat Day — yes that is a thing. Ronin, who works with a handler in the field, set the record for work done between August 2021-February 2025. He's one of dozens of specially trained rodents active in locating landmines for demining efforts. That work, the Guinness Book of World Records said in a statement, 'is making a tangible difference to people who have been blighted for decades by the fear that one misstep while going about their day-to-day lives could be their last.' Rats such as Ronin are trained to sniff out chemicals in the explosives. Their hard work also lets them cover distances at a quicker rate than a human with a metal detector, according to researchers. That sense of smell also means they focus on chemical compounds, and don't get potentially misled by random bits of metal. They're also trained on a grid system, and when in the field, their small size allows them to find and get to the landmines without setting them off. Ronin and other rats work only 30 minutes each day. Cambodia remains one of the most heavily mined locations in the world, with estimates of 4 million to 6 million landmines still buried in the earth from conflicts in the country between the 1960s-1990s. Despite years of effort, and millions already deactivated and removed, they remain a persistence danger, causing injury and death. Ronin's record includes 38 more mines than the previous record holder, Magawa. In a five-year career, Magawa detected 71 landmines and 38 other unexploded ordnance in Cambodia. In 2020, he was awarded a gold medal from a veterinary charity for his efforts. Magawa died in 2022 at the old age of eight. Despite several years of international diplomacy aimed at stopping the spread of landmines, such as the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, and removing them, mines still litter dozens of countries. Many of those are not experiencing active conflicts, but people are still at risk from the mines. Those 'Hegseth bodyguards' are actually there for the Air Force's 'Doomsday' plane Army wants junior officers to fix quality-of-life issues that drive soldiers out '100% OPSEC' apparently means texting military plans to a reporter Ranger School's new fitness test is tougher than ever, but nixes sit-ups This photo of Air Force special ops pool training is chaos. There's a reason for that.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ronin the rat breaks world record in Cambodia by detecting more than 100 landmines
An African landmine-sniffing rat in Cambodia has broken a world record after detecting more than 100 landmines and other explosives in the country, announced its non-profit Apopo on Friday. The giant pouched rat has been named by the Belgian charity as its most successful Mine Detection Rat (MDR) for uncovering 109 landmines and 15 items of unexploded ordnance since 2021, Apopo said in a statement. Ronin the rat has been recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records which said that the rodent's "crucial work" is making a real difference to people who have had to live with the "fear that one misstep while going about their day-to-day lives could be their last'. 'And Ronin's work is far from finished. At just five years old, he may have two years or more of detection work ahead of him, continuing to build on his already record-breaking total,' the statement by Apopo said. Ronin was deployed to Preah Vihear province in Cambodia in August 2021, Apopo said. Meet #Ronin, APOPO's record-breaking rat. He holds a Guinness World Record title for the most landmines detected by a rat. Support Ronin's a HeroRAT: #WorldRatDay #SavingLives #GuinnessWorldRecord #APOPO — APOPO (@herorats) April 4, 2025 The rodent has broken the previous record held by the African giant pouched rat Magawa who detected 71 landmines and 38 pieces of unexploded ordnance over the course of five years. The Tanzania-based Apopo non-profit has 104 rodent recruits which it calls HeroRATS. Its page of Ronin says that the avocado-loving rat is 68cm in length, weighs 1,175gm, and his personality is 'hardworking, but friendly and relaxed'. Scarred by decades of civil war, Cambodia is one of the world's most heavily landmined countries, with more than 1,000sqkm (621 sq miles) of land still contaminated. It has among the highest number of amputees per capita, with more than 40,000 people losing limbs to explosives. Apopo says its HeroRATs can search an area the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes. The same task would take a deminer with a metal detector up to four days depending on how much scrap metal was lying around. It says that the trained rats can detect the chemical compound within explosives called TNT, and they ignore scrap metal, unlike traditional methods with a metal detector.
