Canine squad to protect forests in Telangana

Sniffer dogs will go for patrolling along with anti-poaching units to track down smugglers, poachers

Hyderabad: Not exactly a ‘Call of the Wild’ script, but in a development with shades of the dog’s connection with the wild from the classic novel, the Telangana Forest Department is planning to have a full-fledged canine squad to assist its personnel in protecting the State’s forests and wild life.

The sniffer dog squad will go for patrolling along with anti-poaching units and pick up human scent to track down smugglers and poachers who try to loot forest wealth, including wild animals.

Telangana Forest officials were already experimenting with two sniffer dogs deployed in the Kawal Tiger Reserve and Amarabad Tiger Reserve in the State. Unfortunately, the canine with the Amarabad forest wing died due to health issues around six months ago.

“We will be procuring another dog and sending it for training. After the completion of training, it will be deployed in the Amarabad Forest Reserve. Based on the experience, we will decide on having more canines as maintenance of a dog unit is an expensive affair,” a senior Forest official said.

The department has sent two of its personnel to the National Training Centre for Dogs (NTDC) BSF Academy in Tekanpur, Gwalior.

Meanwhile, the sniffer dog, a German Shepherd, at the Kawal Tiger Reserve, has in the last two years helped in detecting 20 cases.

“With his help, we could nab around 30 persons involved in smuggling and poaching. He has been patrolling in the woods with our personnel most of the time,” said S Madhava Rao, Forest Divisional Officer, Jannaram.

In a few recent instances, the police were seen assisting Forest Department officials by deploying sniffer dogs from police units to track the route taken by leopards and tigers found straying into human habitations. At Rajendranagar, the Cyberabad Police deployed its sniffer dog twice to track the route taken by a leopard.

Forest departments in a few Southern States have dog squads that are trained to sniff out items, including sandalwood, elephant tusk, tiger and leopard skin, bones and meat of wild animals hidden in secret places in the forest. Apart from this, they are also used to track tigers and other wild animals straying into human habitats.

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