When you think of life-savers, you think of people like the police and the firemen.

However, an unlikely life-saver has just won Britain’s highest civilian honour for bravery.

The life-saver is none other than a five-year-old giant African pouched rat called Magawa.


According to a report in Malay Mail, British veterinary charity, the PDSA, awarded Magawa its Gold Medal “for his life-saving bravery and devotion to duty”.

Sniffing out danger

His duty is basically to sniff out landmines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia.

To date, Magawa, trained by the Belgian charity APOPO, has sniffed out 39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordnance.




His excellent work even gained him the moniker ‘HeroRAT’.

He is the first rat to receive a PDSA medal in the 77 years of the awards.

Good job Magawa!