BENGALURU: Rana, the first member of the canine squad of Karnataka, created for wildlife crime detection is no more.
The 13-year-old German Shepherd passed away in Bandipur Tiger Reserve on Tuesday morning.
BTR director Ramesh told TNIE that he died due to age-related ailments on Tuesday morning. "Even though he had retired and we have got another dog, Rana's place nobody can replace Rana," he said.
Rana joined the department in 2014. He was trained in dog squad, special armed forces, 9th battalion, Bhopal. He has helped over 50 cases in merely last five years. Rana was said to be a master and an ace in solving tiger poaching cases and finding weapons.
Prakash Honnakore (32), Karnataka's first dog squad trainer, who had trained Rana, in a state of deep shock, said, he was the first and last one to be with Rana. He had indicted him into the squad, trained him in Bhopal and was with him in his last two years of service, where the duo had solved around 30 cases.
Dr Saket, from Traffic, a wildlife crime-solving team had introduced him into the forest department. The forest department has decided to give him a state honour farewell.