'Hero' Rat Receives Award for Searching out Landmines
2020-09-29
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1For the first time, a rat has won a British aid group's top award for animal bravery.
2The animal is being honored for its work searching out unexploded landmines in Cambodia.
3The award winner is an African giant pouched rat named Magawa.
4British charity PDSA gave its Gold Medal to Magawa for his "lifesaving bravery and devotion to duty."
5PDSA was founded in 1917 to provide free healthcare to animals.
6It was first known as the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals.
7The group has been honoring heroic animals since 1943.
8Magawa was trained by a Belgian organization that has been teaching rats to find landmines for more than 20 years.
9The group, APOPO, aims to help clear mines left behind from wars and conflicts.
10It works with programs in Cambodia, Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
11Magawa is the group's most successful rat.
12He has cleared more than 141,000 square meters of land over the past four years.
13APOPO's chief Christophe Cox told The Associated Press Magawa's medal was a huge honor for the group's animal trainers.
14"But also, it is big for the people in Cambodia, and all the people around the world who are suffering from landmines," he said.
15Cox added that he hopes the Gold Medal award can bring more worldwide attention to the problem of landmines.
16APOPO says that more than 60 million people in 59 countries continue to be threatened by landmines and unexploded weapons.
17In 2018, landmines and other remnants of war killed or injured 6,897 people, the group said.
18APOPO noted on its website it currently has 45 rats looking for landmines and 31 searching for the disease tuberculosis in Africa and Asia.
19Many rodents can be trained to search things out with their nose and perform work for food.
20But APOPO decided that giant African pouched rats were best equipped to help clear landmines because of their African roots and lifespan of up to eight years.
21The rats' size permits them to walk across mine fields without setting off explosives.
22They also work much faster than people.
23Magawa was born in Tanzania, but is now based in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap.
24He is the first rat to receive a PDSA medal in the 77-year history of the awards.
25Other winners have included brave dogs, birds and a cat.
26The PDSA Gold Medal is the animal equivalent of Britain's George Cross award, a hero award for humans.
27The PDSA also awards the Dickin Medal, for animals performing military work.
28I'm Bryan Lynn.
1For the first time, a rat has won a British aid group's top award for animal bravery. The animal is being honored for its work searching out unexploded landmines in Cambodia. 2The award winner is an African giant pouched rat named Magawa. British charity PDSA gave its Gold Medal to Magawa for his "lifesaving bravery and devotion to duty." 3PDSA was founded in 1917 to provide free healthcare to animals. It was first known as the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals. The group has been honoring heroic animals since 1943. 4Magawa was trained by a Belgian organization that has been teaching rats to find landmines for more than 20 years. The group, APOPO, aims to help clear mines left behind from wars and conflicts. It works with programs in Cambodia, Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. 5Magawa is the group's most successful rat. He has cleared more than 141,000 square meters of land over the past four years. 6APOPO's chief Christophe Cox told The Associated Press Magawa's medal was a huge honor for the group's animal trainers. "But also, it is big for the people in Cambodia, and all the people around the world who are suffering from landmines," he said. 7Cox added that he hopes the Gold Medal award can bring more worldwide attention to the problem of landmines. 8APOPO says that more than 60 million people in 59 countries continue to be threatened by landmines and unexploded weapons. In 2018, landmines and other remnants of war killed or injured 6,897 people, the group said. 9APOPO noted on its website it currently has 45 rats looking for landmines and 31 searching for the disease tuberculosis in Africa and Asia. 10Many rodents can be trained to search things out with their nose and perform work for food. But APOPO decided that giant African pouched rats were best equipped to help clear landmines because of their African roots and lifespan of up to eight years. 11The rats' size permits them to walk across mine fields without setting off explosives. They also work much faster than people. 12Magawa was born in Tanzania, but is now based in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap. He is the first rat to receive a PDSA medal in the 77-year history of the awards. Other winners have included brave dogs, birds and a cat. 13The PDSA Gold Medal is the animal equivalent of Britain's George Cross award, a hero award for humans. The PDSA also awards the Dickin Medal, for animals performing military work. 14I'm Bryan Lynn. 15Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, msn.com and the Apopo website. George Grow was the editor. 16We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 17________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19devotion - n. a feeling of strong love or loyalty 20remnant - n. the part of something that is left when the other parts are gone 21rodent - n. an animal with long, sharp teeth, such as a mouse or rabbit 22lifespan - n. the amount of time a person lives 23equivalent - n. having the same amount, value, quality etc.