The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force are busy training dogs to join the ‘Super Sniffer’ squad in Madhya Pradesh.
Then, the force will deploy dogs like five-month-old German Shepherd Ilu in national parks like Kuno National Park in a bid to protect Namibian cheetahs from poachers.
Protecting Wildlife Across India
The force are training six dogs to protect wildlife across the country. There’s basic training for three months before another four months of advanced training. Then, the pups will start work in April next year.
The force deploying the dogs in national parks in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. They’re training them to detect tiger and leopard skin, bones, tusks, and a range of other illegal wildlife products.
They stay with the same handler all through their career. Sanjeev Sharma, who works with the forest department at Kuno National Park, started working with Ilu when she was just two months old, and describes the German Shepherd as being like a child to him.
“Dogs develop an unbreakable bond with their handlers that makes them excellent in their job,” he said. He went on to explain that the force will deploy Ilu on the periphery of the park with forest guards, protecting cheetahs and other wildlife from poachers. The dogs don’t protect cheetahs as such, as Sharma explained – they can protect themselves.
Specialized Training for Dog Squad
Ishwar Singh Duhan, Inspector General of the Basic Training Center of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (BTC-ITBP) in Panchkula, explained that the dogs are getting specialized training in collaboration with wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC and WWF India.
“Dogs trained at ITBP dog training center have a high rate of wildlife crime detection,” he explained. “There are scores of success stories where dogs have helped in the arrest of poachers”. Undoubtedly, it’s sure to make a difference.
