MYSURU: The first member of the Karnataka Forest Department’s canine squad, the 10-year-old sniffer dog Rana of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, which was a nightmare for criminals, died in the wee hours of Tuesday. Forest authorities bid a tearful adieu and gave a guard of honour as a mark of respect for its illustrious service of seven years in the department helping in cracking several wildlife crimes.
Rana died of age-related ailments. He was laid to rest near the safari centre of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve. BTR director P Ramesh Kumar, ACF K Paramesh, forest staff and wildlife volunteers paid their last respects to the canine.
Rana, a German Shepherd, born in August 2013 joined the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in 2015 after undergoing training at Bhopal’s 28th Battalion of the Special Armed Reserve Forces. Foresters said that in its first assignment, Rana managed to detect three persons who had smuggled teak from the N Begur forest range. Within a few days, he helped foresters solve the leopard poisoning case in Omkara range and the sandalwood smuggling case in Srirangapatna taluk.