It is among the largest muroids in the world, growing to about 0.9 m (3 ft) long, including the tail, which makes up half of its total length.

[2] It is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Senegal to Kenya and from Angola to Mozambique (although it is absent from much of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Emin's pouched rat is present) from sea level to 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

[3] In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now ban the importation of this species because it is blamed for the 2003 outbreak of monkeypox.

A Tanzanian social enterprise founded by two Belgians, APOPO ("Anti-Personnel Landmines Removal Product Development" in English), trains the closely related southern giant pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei)[5] to detect land mines and tuberculosis with their highly developed sense of smell.

Before retiring in 2021, Magawa detected 71 landmines and 38 items of unexploded ordnance, clearing over 2,421,880 sq ft (225,000 m2) of land in Cambodia, preventing many injuries and deaths, in his 5-year career.

[16] This outsized African rodent is also believed to be responsible for the 2003 Midwest monkeypox outbreak in the United States, after spreading it to prairie dogs that were purchased as pets.