A giant African rat called Ronin has been distinguished with the Guinness Awardfor being the most antiperson mines has detected in Cambodia, the non -governmental organization Apopo, which employs a hundred rodents for this task in this country in Southeast Asia informed Efe on Monday.
“The remarkable achievement of Ronin, by detecting more than 124 land mines and another 15 explosives without detonating, is a testimony of the incredible potential of our ‘Herorats’ and the work they do to save lives,” said the organization, which claims to have removed in several countries about 170,000 mines since its foundation in 1997.
The organization said that this achievement in addition to highlighting “the skills of these humble animals, often seen negatively,” also “emphasizes the crucial role of innovation in humanitarian demining.”
With his work since 2021 in the province of Preah Vihear (North), Ronin has exceeded Magowa’s legacy, which died in 2022 already retired and after identified 71 land mines and 38 unleashed objects during his five years of service.
“Ronin’s work is far from finishing, he could have two years or more work of detection ahead, continuing with his record,” said the organization, based in Belgium.
The rats are trained to detect the chemical components of the explosives and ignore the abandoned metal pieces to find the unbelievable artifacts much faster and although they are large rodents their weight is not enough to detonate the mines.
Cambodia is one of the nations most affected by land mines in the world after Burma and Afghanistan, and it is believed that up to six million were placed during armed conflicts that ravaged the country between 1975 and 1998, of which hundreds of thousands have not yet been located.
According to estimates of international organizations, antipersonnel mines have caused tens of thousands of victims in the country, which has the largest number of amputates for them per capita in the world: more than 40,000 people for a population of 17 million inhabitants.
