Rat earns world record for sniffing landmines in Cambodia

A landmine-hunting rat in Cambodia has set a new world record by sniffing out more than 100 mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance, a charity said Friday. Ronin, a giant African pouched rat, has tracked down 109 landmines and 15 other potentially deadly war remnants since his deployment to northern Preah Vihear province in August 2021, the Belgian charity APOPO said in a statement.

Five-year-old Ronin has been named the most successful Mine Detection Rat in the organisation's history. Ronin beat the previous record, held by hero rodent Magawa who found 71 landmines and 38 UXOs during his five-year service before retirement in 2021. Cambodia had aimed to be mine-free by 2025, but the government pushed the deadline back by five years because of funding challenges and new landmine fields found along the Thai border.