Ronin is a heroine in Cambodia, despite being an African giant rat. This rodent has been distinguished with the Guinness award for being the one that has detected the most landmines in Cambodia, as reported this Monday to EFE by the non-governmental organization Apopo, which employs around a hundred rodents for this task in this Southeast Asian country.
"Ronin's remarkable achievement, by detecting over 124 landmines and 15 other unexploded explosives, is a testament to the incredible potential of our 'HeroRATs' and the work they do to save lives," expressed the organization, which claims to have removed close to 170,000 mines in several countries since its foundation in 1997.
The organization stated that this achievement not only highlights "the skills of these humble animals, often seen in a negative light," but also "emphasizes the crucial role of innovation in humanitarian demining."
With its work since 2021 in the Preah Vihear province, Ronin has surpassed the legacy of Magawa, who passed away in 2022 after retiring and having identified 71 landmines and 38 unexploded objects during its five years of service.
"Ronin's work is far from over, it could have two or more years of detection work ahead, continuing with its record," emphasized the organization, based in Belgium.
The rats are trained to detect the chemical components of explosives and ignore metal fragments to find unexploded devices much faster, and although they are large rodents, their weight is not enough to detonate the mines.
Cambodia is one of the most affected nations by landmines in the world after Myanmar and Afghanistan, and it is believed that up to six million mines were laid during the armed conflicts that ravaged the country between 1975 and 1998, of which hundreds of thousands have yet to be located.
According to estimates from international organizations, landmines have caused tens of thousands of victims in the country, which has the highest number of amputees per capita in the world: over 40,000 people for a population of 17 million inhabitants.