Magawa died Jan. 8 at age 8, about six months after being retired from mine hunting.
For his work, he was given a gold medal by the British veterinary charity People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) in 2020—the highest civilian award an animal can receive, and the first time a rat received such an honor. PDSA said that at the time, he was able to make 35 acres of land safe and livable for Cambodians. The award turned Magawa into an international hero.
Magawa was one of hundreds of “hero rats” that have been trained since the 1990s by APOPO to detect landmines. In 30 minutes, these rats can scan swathes of land as big as tennis courts for any presence of explosive chemicals. A human being with a metal detector will take four days to do the same job. While other animals can be trained to detect mines, APOPO found rats best suited for the job due to their small size—weighing less than three pounds, they are too light to set off the landmines.
Some quick reading suggests your .5 hours a day and 2 years might not be so far off? He was used as a mascot for the program, so who knows how many of his 7.5 years were training and mascotting rather than active de-mining. Also if you look at images of the operation, it obviously requires human setup prior to the rats doing their job, and presumably the humans need to do the controlled detonations when mines are found.
Ah, interesting.