The Shadow Creature: Rats Who Save Human Lives

Apr 17, 2025

Rats have long been misunderstood, but one named Magawa is rewriting the script on their reputation. Trained by Pendo in Tanzania, Magawa bravely sniffs out landmines, saving lives in post-war communities. Their journey brings humor and heart as adorable pet rats highlight their charm and cleverness. With playful anecdotes and a catchy song, the podcast invites listeners to embrace these remarkable creatures and rethink what they know about rats.

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ANECDOTE

Pendo's Early Bond with Magawa

Pendo Msegu met Magawa when he was a baby rat and cared for him deeply like a son.
Their bond helped Magawa trust Pendo enough for training to become a hero rat.

INSIGHT

Rats' Supernatural Smell Powers

Rats have extraordinary smell organs that allow them to detect what humans cannot.
They use scent trails and empathetic behavior to navigate and survive collaboratively.

ANECDOTE

Training Magawa to Detect Landmines

Pendo trained Magawa to detect TNT by teaching him the smell and rewarding correct indications.
Magawa found every landmine in tests, proving his life-saving ability before deployment.

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Rats have a bad reputation. They’ve been called evil, terrifying and wicked. The lowliest and most abominable of creatures. Songbud Alan felt the same way until he heard of one rat from Tanzania named Magawa. We meet Pendo, Magawa’s human friend and trainer, who wanted to train Magawa for a battlefield of sorts. A battle to save human lives.

You see, some countries have explosive landmines placed there during war. When the war is over, the landmines remain, meaning people continue to live in danger, afraid they might step on one. Pendo hoped to train Magawa to use his rat superpowers to sniff out the dangerous landmines and rescue these communities.

Special thanks to everyone at APOPO, especially Pendo Masgu, Said Mshana and Lily Shalom. Thanks also to Kathleen Corradi, Cedric Simmons of ALA Environmental Services, and Olivia Bensimon and Jake Offenhartz of the Street Leather zine for inspiring the Rat Story Hotline. Biggest thanks to Alana and Jen, board members of foster rescue organization Helping All Little Things, for helping us record with nine rats in our studio.

Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC Studios. This episode was produced by Ana González, Mira Burt-Wintonick, Alan Goffinski, Joe Plourde, Lulu Miller, and Sarah Sandbach, with help from Tanya Chawla. Fact checking by Anna Pujol-Mazzini.

Our advisors this season are Ana Luz Porzecanski, Anil Lewis, Dominique Shabazz, and Liza Demby.

Support for Terrestrials also comes from the Simons Foundation, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and the John Templeton Foundation.

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