April 7, 2026
Whiskers of valor
Cambodia unveils a statue of famous landmine-sniffing rat Magawa
Cambodia crowns hero rat Magawa with a statue; the internet gets emotional
TLDR: Cambodia unveiled a statue honoring Magawa, the hero rat who sniffed out landmines and saved lives. The community responded with tributes, a commanded “minute of silence,” and travel plans to the APOPO visitor center—turning a cute story into a serious reminder that mine-clearing matters.
A stone statue in Siem Reap just turned the internet into a whiskered wake. Cambodia unveiled a tribute to Magawa, the landmine-sniffing rat who found over 100 explosives and helped clear the equivalent of 20 football fields. The comments became a memorial wall: “RIP Magawa” set the tone, while one user dramatically declared a minute’s silence and commanded “HN sheep” to join—prompting raised eyebrows and giggles in equal measure. Others pushed a kinder message, saying Magawa proves every creature’s life can be meaningful.
Fans swapped feel-good facts: trained by Belgian charity APOPO (they call them HeroRATS, as in heroic rats), Magawa earned a gold medal—basically the animal George Cross—and enjoyed a well-earned retirement of mentoring junior rats and snacking on bananas and peanuts before passing in 2022. Practical types dropped travel tips: “Go to the APOPO visitor center in Siem Reap and see a demo.”
The only “drama” was playful: the “HN sheep” command sparked joking resistance from readers who don’t love being herded, but most stayed in tribute mode. With landmines still a danger in Cambodia, the statue felt less quirky, more urgent—part memorial, part reminder. And yes, someone said they’d be booking flights to meet Magawa’s record-breaking successor, Ronin.
Key Points
- •Cambodia unveiled a locally carved stone statue in Siem Reap honoring Magawa, a landmine-detecting rat.
- •Magawa detected over 100 landmines and explosives from 2016, clearing more than 141,000 sq m of land.
- •He received the PDSA Gold Medal in 2020 and died in 2022 after retirement.
- •APOPO has trained rats since the 1990s; their small size prevents triggering mines and they can detect TB and assist anti-trafficking efforts.
- •UN estimates over a million people in Cambodia still live/work on mine-contaminated land; Cambodia aims to be mine-free by 2030.