Ronin and rats like him work for about 30 minutes a day, APOPO said. When they reach a certain age, they are moved to a retirement community and remain under APOPO's care.

Ronin, who is 5 years old and was born in Tanzania, is much larger than your average pet rat. He is more than 2 feet long – about the length of a cat – and weighs 2.6 pounds, according to APOPO.

The Belgian non-profit APOPO announced that Ronin, an African giant pouched rat, had become the most successful Mine Detection Rat (MDR) in the organization’s history, earning a Guinness World ...

Ronin is an African giant pouched rat who works with APOPO, a nonprofit that trains rats to detect unexploded ordnance, land mines and tuberculosis.

Ronin, who is 5 years old and was born in Tanzania, is much larger than your average pet rat. He is more than 2 feet long – about the length of a cat – and weighs 2.6 pounds, according to APOPO.

Handler Phanny and Ronin after their search. (Courtesy of APOPO) Rats ignore scrap metal when they search old minefields, which speeds up the process compared to humans, Fast said.

A rat named Ronin has set a new Guinness World Record by detecting 109 land mines in Cambodia over the last four years. Ronin is an African giant pouched rat who works with APOPO, a nonprofit that ...

Ronin is an African giant pouched rat who works with APOPO, a nonprofit that trains rats to detect unexploded ordnance, land mines and tuberculosis. APOPO’s rats have cleared more than 122 million ...