RANCHI: Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) has sought a sniffer dog, required to check poaching of wild animals and illegal trade of their meat. According to PTR officials, they have written to TRAFFIC, a joint initiative of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Union of Conservation of Nature, for the same and expect to get a least in the next few weeks.
PTR Deputy Director Prajesh Kant Jena informed that, Honey, a sniffer dog which was brought here in 2023, died a few months back, and hence, they need at least one to detect wild life crime. The Belgian Malinois, a special breed of dog, is used by forest officials for the detection of wildlife crime.
The Belgian Malinois is a medium to large-sized dog with an athletic, lean build and a short, tight coat. Sometimes mistaken for the larger, heavier boned German Shepherd Dog.
The PTR management uses sniffer dogs to track and prevent poaching of animals, mostly deer, and their illegal trade.
“Sniffer dogs are a part of protection regime in PTR as they are trained to detect wildlife crime and used in multiple things by the forest officials like detecting the crime scene and the miscreants. In addition to that, they are also help us in detecting meat of any wild animals being sold in the local ‘haat’ or market by sniffing them,” said Jena.
As the sniffer dog PTR earlier had, died a few months back, they have sent a requisition to TRAFFIC-INDIA, which is a joint venture of WWF, and trains the dogs and their handlers.
“Earlier, we had two sniffer dogs, which died and then we had obtained one last year, which also died. As of now, we do not have any sniffer dog and expect to get it in next two to three months,” said the Deputy Director.
Interestingly, wildlife detector dogs are proving invaluable in tackling wild species crime. They are working in various ways, from helping rangers in National Parks in Africa and India catch poachers to detecting illicit products derived from wild species in airports.
These highly trained sniffer squads are essential in stopping poachers and traffickers in their tracks and ensuring justice for our wild species.