PANCHKULA: In a first of its kind effort to curb incidents of poaching and wildlife crime, the forest departments of Haryana and Uttarakhand will deploy sniffer dogs trained at the National Dog-training Centre at ITBP camp in Panchkula.
The two German Shepherd dogs began their lessons in April 2008 and turned experts this month to sniff out tiger and leopard skins, bones and bear bile among other animal parts.
Forest department officials said it was very tough for them to trace wildlife articles buried by poachers in dense forests, therefore, with these trained dogs now they would be able to detect such articles easily. Giving details about the new concept, SK Dhar, principal chief conservator of forest, Haryana, said this effort would also strengthen the capacity of the forest department to search bus terminus, railway stations and airports, which are crucial medium of transporting wildlife articles. It would certainly boost the moral and capacity of the staff in handling wildlife crime, Dhar added.
It would be pertinent to mention here that Haryana, bordering HP and Uttarakhand, is a major conduit for transportation of wildlife articles. Malkit Singh, deputy chief wildlife warden, Haryana, who monitored the training, said, This was a pilot project and all of us were apprehensive about the outcome. We are now sure that the other states will follow suit the moment even a single case is detected by the dogs, he added ecstatically.
Samir Sinha, who heads Traffic, an NGO for wildlife protection, that financed the project, said it was necessary to upgrade the skills and abilities of agencies fighting crime. This dog squad is an indication of how seriously illegal trade of wildlife articles is being treated both by the government and non-government agencies.
