Rat called ronin breaks the world record for smelling land mines in times of war in Cambodia

An African giant bag rat is being honored in record books after detecting more than 100 terrestrial mines and other not determined explosives in Cambodia, the Belgian non -profit organization announced on Friday.

The rat, called Ronin, was named the most successful mines detection rat. He was also recognized by the Guinness World Records.

Since August 2021, Ronin has detected 109 land mines and 15 unleashed ammunition articles, said Apopo. The record of records is expected to do another two years or more of detection work, said the non -profit organization.

“Ronin’s achievements are a testimony of the incredible potential for positive reinforcement training. It is not just an asset; he is a valuable partner and colleague,” said Phanny, the Ronin manager, in a apopo press release.

The previous registration was made by the Rat of African giant bags mapwawho detected 71 land mines and 38 pieces of unleashed ammunition during five years.

Apopo has been training rats detecting mines for more than 25 years. Ronin underwent a clicking training, where the rat learns to associate the sound of a click with a gift, to motivate him to learn to smell explosives. He was also trained to work systemically within a grid pattern and indicate terrestrial mines scratching on the ground. Ronin and rats like him work for about 30 minutes a day, said Apopo. When they reach a certain age, they move to a retirement community and remain under apopo care. Magowa, the head of the previous registration, was Retired in 2021 and He died in 2022.

Land mines and unmolved ammunition are a big problem in Cambodia. Decades of conflict They have left up to six million unleasive ammunition on the country’s floor, according to the 2024 report of the Mena Lands monitor. Since 1979, these buried bombs have caused around 20,000 deaths and 45,000 wounds, the land mines monitor reported. Dimination efforts have been underway for decades, including the work done by Ronin and other Apopo rats. In 2023, there were only 32 reported casualties that involved land mines in Cambodia, according to the Lands Mines Monitor. The site does not distinguish between injuries and deaths when it refers to victims.

The efforts of the apopo are not limited to Cambodia. The non -profit organization estimates that around 110 million land mines are buried in 60 countries. In 2023, 1,431 deaths were connected to these Terrestrial mines. The agency said it continues to work to eliminate terrestrial mines and unbelievable ammunition from the world.

“When we launched apopo, the common opinion was that it would take around 500 years to eliminate all the land mines from the land surface,” said Christine Cox, CEO of Apopo. “25 years later, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and if the international community completely supports the collaboration of all the decrease operators, we could erase the remaining mined fields in our life.”

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• Rat
• Earth mine
• Cambodia