Ronin the rat breaks the record for landmine detection

In a remarkable achievement, Ronin, a five-year-old African giant pouched rat, has set a new world record by becoming the first rodent to locate over 100 landmines and other dangerous remnants of war in Cambodia.

Since 2021, Ronin has discovered 109 landmines and 15 unexploded ordnance items, according to a statement from the charity Apopo, which trains these remarkable animals. In Cambodia, millions of unexploded munitions remain buried after two decades of civil conflict that ended in 1998. The Guinness Book of World Records has acknowledged Ronin's "vital work," which significantly impacts the lives of locals who live in constant fear of the dangers that lie beneath their feet. Apopo, headquartered in Tanzania, currently trains 104 HeroRATS, as they are affectionately known. These rats are educated to identify chemicals present in landmines and other abandoned weapons. Due to their lightweight nature, they can explore areas without triggering the mines. The efficiency of these rats is impressive; they can survey an area equivalent to a tennis court in just 30 minutes, while a human with a metal detector might take up to four days to do the same job. Additionally, the rats are adept at detecting tuberculosis far more quickly than traditional lab methods. It typically takes around a year to train each rat for landmine detection tasks. Ronin's achievements in the northern Preah Vihear province have eclipsed the previous record held by Magawa, another rat who located 71 mines and was awarded a gold medal for bravery in 2020.

Since its inception 25 years ago, Apopo has cleared a total of 169,713 landmines and explosives worldwide, with over 52,000 of those in Cambodia. The organization also operates in other war-affected regions, including Ukraine, South Sudan, and Azerbaijan. Despite these efforts, an estimated four to six million landmines and other munitions still lie buried in Cambodia, according to the Landmine Monitor.

BBC