Text: Bai Xiaosheng
Editor|Caifeng Bai Xiaosheng
Sources: All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources, and is detailed at the end of the article
Battlefield rats, everyone admires!
In the distant Philippines, there is a big rat that everyone loves, it is called a "hero" by countless people, and has been awarded a golden medal of glory by the British.
In its life's work, this heroic rat has helped Cambodia reduce 100 landmine crises, but how powerful does a little rat rely on to clear landmines?
Little Mouse!
Who would have thought that a medal, symbolizing the highest civilian honor, would be awarded to a mouse, but when we saw the heroic deeds of "Magawa", we also had to admire this little guy.
This is an African giant rat with a unique ability to use its sense of smell to help people find the location of landmines, and it has worked for the people of Cambodia for several years to find nearly 100 unexploded mines.
Cambodia is a country with a history of more than 2,000 years, as an ancient civilization in the Indochina Peninsula, countless tourists want to witness the beautiful scenery of this mysterious country, but everyone is discouraged, because Cambodia has huge security risks.
Because of the national disputes in the early years, there are a bunch of "big treasures" buried in the ground of Cambodia, and if you are not careful, you will enter heaven with a loud noise, and this potential threat is really a headache for the Cambodian people.
According to the data given by Cambodia, more than 30 years ago, there were nearly 10 million landmines buried under this land, and almost half of them have not been found today, so walking in Cambodia is really walking on thin ice. Every year, Cambodian hospitals receive patients who have been injured by the bombing, and a broken arm and leg is already a great blessing.
Therefore, the problem of clearing the remaining bombs is imminent, and the Cambodian people are also working hard, but this matter can not be completed in a day or two, and the lack of manpower, material and technology has made the progress of the mine clearance plan slow, and Cambodia is also racking its brains to find new ways to solve the problem.
Cambodia was ecstatic with the appearance of "Magawa", as if it had been chosen to go deep into the minefield to help the Cambodian people clear the danger.
Over the course of his career, the little guy has discovered nearly 100 unexploded landmines and helped Cambodia clear 225,000 square meters of land, the equivalent of 42 football fields.
You might be wondering, isn't the traditional metal detector better than a little mouse? really not, because the metal detector can detect other metals that are not mines, and this little guy can avoid this problem.
The actual data is more intuitive, "Magawa" can inspect a tennis court-sized field in half an hour, compared to four days with a human detector.
The training process of the Minesweeper
After "Magawa" made so many contributions, the British charity also awarded it a gold medal for the first time, and it is also mentioned that this kind of medal is often awarded to animals such as cats and dogs for outstanding contributions, and it is indeed rare for such rodents to receive medals.
African giant rats are very good for this kind of task, they are very intelligent and only need a certain amount of time to learn this skill, "Magawa" is the best of them all, and it is really a whimsical thing to use rats to help humans detect landmines, but in Cambodia it does happen.
One might ask, how did such a feat come about? This is a matter of how they are trained, with researchers starting with how to find landmines and how to report back to people.
First, the researchers used a principle similar to the "Pavlov's dog" experiment by preparing a sound controller that would make sounds every time they were eating, and then feed the African giant rats.
The researchers then prepared three types of powder for the African giant rats, only one of which was the powder that made up the explosives, and when the sound controller sounded, they would be rewarded with a certain amount of food, such as their favorite banana or peanut.
Before they are put into use, these little ones are usually trained for several years, and they will work out every day, and when they find mines, they will dig next to them to warn people, so as to ensure that there will be no problems when taking on such dangerous jobs in the future, and "Magawa" is the most successful case.
But unfortunately, this excellent demining hero passed away in 2022 at the age of 8, and countless people are saddened by the death of this little hero, and at the same time, they are extremely grateful for everything it has done for the Cambodian people.
In the week leading up to his death, Magawa did not show any signs of physical discomfort, and examinations showed that he was healthy enough to spend most of his daily life playing with his keepers. It wasn't until the weekend of that week that it began to behave strangely, slowing down and refusing to eat until the day it died.
Big rats from Africa!
African giant rats are the largest rats in the world, they can easily grow up to 25 centimeters, the same size as the average domestic cat, counting its large long tail, the African giant rat can reach a maximum body length of 1 meter, but they have a good temper and a docile temperament, otherwise they cannot be chosen as human helpers.
African giant rats have a very strong sense of smell, but their eyesight is not very good, so African giant rats generally do not walk in a straight line, and their way of walking is to smell left and right, which is very funny and cute.
And the African giant rat to the human contribution can not only demining, they can also give people a doctor, the body of the African giant rat has an immune effect on tuberculosis bacteria, after experiments have proved that the African giant rat can be checked for tuberculosis through human saliva, and the accuracy rate is as high as an astonishing 86.6%.
You think that's the end of it? These little guys have been hired to help at customs, and their job as customs inspectors is very simple, which is to use their strong sense of smell to find the criminals who smuggle wild animals.
Can ordinary people keep African giant rats?
The African giant rat has a strong ability and a docile personality, and many people see if they want to raise one at home, but in fact, as an ordinary person, it is not recommended to raise African giant rats.
If you want to raise an African giant rat, the first problem you have to face is where to buy it, the price of this animal in China is about more than 10,000 yuan, and there is no market, and it is a big trouble to buy it from abroad and bring it back.
In addition, the reproduction ability of African giant rats is quite strong, and there is no difference between the feeding habits of African giant rats and rural earth rats, once African giant rats are flooded in China, the consequences are unimaginable.
This kind of big rat will cause a devastating blow to agriculture, whether the domestic cat of twenty or thirty centimeters can beat is a problem, and a lot of money will be invested in catching rats and killing rats, which is completely worth the loss.
As a "pioneer in mine clearance", the African giant rat has made great contributions to Cambodia, and we have also realized that not all rats have to be "shouted and beaten by everyone", and the wonder of nature needs more people to dig deeper!
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7052210776853135879/?channel=&source=search_tab
https://www.toutiao.com/article/6877038597581570568/?channel=&source=search_tab