PHNOM PENH: Magawa, the landmine-detecting "hero rat" has died, aged eight, the NGO that trained him said in a news release on Tuesday.

Magawa was one of the most important staff members from APOPO, the organization working to clear Cambodia from landmines and explosive remnants of war that are still spread across the country.

The news release stated that "Magawa was in good health and spent most of last week playing with his usual enthusiasm, but towards the weekend he started to slow down, napping more and showing less interest in food in his last days."

The statement added, "All of us at APOPO are feeling the loss of Magawa and we are grateful for the incredible work he's done"

Magawa was an African Giant Pouched rat renowned for finding 71 landmines and 38 items of unexploded ordnance during his career. The charity, APOPO, trains animals to detect landmines as well as tuberculosis.

During his working life, Magawa's job title was ‘HeroRat’, and he was awarded a gold medal by the UK-based veterinary charity PDSA in 2020, before retiring in June 2021.

Magawa was born and trained in Tanzania before his move to Cambodia in 2016, APOPO said.

According to the PDSA, Cambodia has more than 40,000 mine amputees and one of the highest numbers of mine amputees per capita in the world.