New Delhi 22 November : .The nation’s wildlife sniffer dog force is now stronger with 14 new dogs joining the ranks. On November 20, the latest super sniffers unit of wildlife-sniffer dogs was released from Panchkula’s Basic Training Centre Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force camp (BTC-ITBP), Haryana.
The ninth batch of wildlife sniffer dogs has been trained by TRAFFIC since 2008, when the pioneering programme was launched.To date, 88 squads have been trained.
Panchkula said that the BTC ITBP top officials had carefully planned the programme to teach basic obedience as well as detection skills, in order to fight illegal wildlife trading.
At the institute, dogs learned to recognize tiger skin and leopard skin as well as elephant tusk and skin.Dog handlers were also taught how to teach their dogs other smells.
This allowed them to improve skills long after the course was over.
Panchkula, Director of BTC-ITBP said that the training used modern conditioning techniques and positive reinforcement with food and reward play.They were also exposed to real-life hunting scenarios, both in forest and populated areas.”I am confident that wildlife dogs will greatly assist officials in curbing illegal wildlife trade.”
Activities included training on rugged terrain, such as check points, forests, vehicles, luggage search and parking lots.To train the dogs in finding targets that have low concentrations of scent, trainers provided small-sized wildlife items.
Dr Saket Badola, Head of TRAFFIC India Office said that the sniffer dogs who were trained by the program are tireless in difficult terrains.They have assisted agencies in more than 400 cases of wildlife crimes.
Ravi Singh, Secretary General, WWF India CEO and CEO said, “The commitment and dedication of the wildlife sniffer dogs squads is admirable and the dog have been a game changer in the efforts to combat wildlife crime.”
It was overwhelming to see the response of multiple government departments that deployed super sniffers and used them to combat wildlife crime.This includes the Railway Protection Force and Customs, as well as Forest Departments of Maharashtra (Chhattisgarh), Odisha (Odisha), Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
Under TRAFFIC’s new alliance with Railway Protection Force (RPF), two dog squads are to be deployed in the South and West Central areas of Indian Railways.
Vinay Kumar Sharma (Assistant Sub-inspector Gujarat Forest Department) spoke on behalf of 28 handlers (2 per dog).He said that the trainers at the training center and their support was crucial in our success as wildlife sniffer dogs.
Topsy, Topsy, and I are excited to go back to our state of deployment and help stop poaching and the illegal trade in wildlife.
TRAFFIC is the network that monitors wildlife trade.
It works to make sure there is no threat to nature conservation.TRAFFIC in India is a program division of WWF-India.It’s the largest conservation organization in India.
niv/shb/ #newsuper #sniffers #wildlife #sniffer #expanded #fourteen #Delhi #Chennai #Tamil #Kollywood
.
