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Deadly Collision Claims 67 Lives in U.S. Air Disaster | At Least 30 Dead and Many Injured in Stampede at Maha Kumbh Mela in India | Cambodia to Host 2025 National Chapei Dang Veng Festival from June 11-13 | Senate President Hun Sen Reflects on Cambodia’s Development and ASEAN Integration | ASEAN Secretary-General Hails Samdech Techo Hun Sen's Vision at Policy Speech | Cambodia Temporarily Bans Livestock and Meat Imports from Thailand Amid Anthrax Outbreak |

New Mine-Sniffing Rats for Cambodia after Magawa Retires

Phnom Penh: Cambodia has deployed its next generation of landmine-detecting rats, as part of a huge effort to rid the country of unexploded ordnance or UXO. 20 African Giant Pouched Rats have recently been imported from Tanzania and undergone intense training. Rat handler, So Malen, who works with the landmine-clearing NGO, APOPO, says the rats are easy to work with.

Scarred by decades of civil war, Cambodia is one of the world’s most heavily landmined countries, with more than 1,000 square kilometres still contaminated. It has among the highest number of amputees per capita, with more than 40,000 people who have lost limbs due to explosives.

The new rat recruits replace a recently retired group that included multiple award-winning Magawa, who found 71 landmines and 28 other UXO during his five-year career. Magawa was born in Tanzania in 2014, and was brought to Siem Reap in 2016 to begin his bomb-sniffing career.

He received a gold medal the UK-based People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals last year for his “lifesaving bravery and devotion to duty”.


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