Sniffer dog helps recover 32 kg of ivory

Elephant had died two days earlier

February 2012: Tracey, a two-year-old female Alsatian dog trained to sniff out wildlife products, has helped recover two elephant tusks, weighing more than 32 kg from the forests of Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary in Jharkhand, India.

CRIME SCENE: Tracey gets to work hunting for the tusks. Picture: TRAFFIC

The tusks were from an Asian elephant that had died two days earlier, but when forest officials inspected the carcass they found the tusks had been removed and Tracey was brought in from nearby Betla Tiger Reserve to help locate them.

First time dogs have been used in India in this way
She searched the area extensively and led the team to the spot where the tusks were hidden. The whole operation was successfully co-ordinated by Kamlesh Pandey, DFO, Wildlife Division, Ranchi.

Tracey is currently used by Betla Tiger Reserve and is one of the seven dogs trained under TRAFFIC India/WWF-India's sniffer dog training programme. It is the first time dogs have been used in India for detecting illegal wildlife products.

MKS Pasha, coordinator for TRAFFIC India, said: ‘Illegal wildlife trade has evolved into an organised activity threatening the survival of many species in India. In order to curb this growing menace, it is necessary that the best enforcement practices are deployed.

‘Using sniffer dogs for crime detection and prevention is one technique TRAFFIC has experience of running in several countries. We are happy it is making a difference in India too and hope more states will come forward to adopt this as a tool in the fight against wildlife crime.'

HAUL: The tusk found by the dog. Picture: TRAFFIC

Dogs are proving to be a strong deterrent
Ravi Singh, of WWF-India, added: ‘We are proud to have initiated this innovative programme that is leading to early successes. The dogs are being used regularly for patrolling and are proving to be a strong deterrent.

‘This is not the first time that the sniffer dogs have helped curb wildlife crime. In the recent past, Jackie, one of the qualified dogs apprehended two poachers in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. Raja, another of the trained dogs posted at Bhrampuri Wildlife Division, Maharashtra, helped bust a leopard-poaching case that led to the arrest of seven people.'

The sniffer dog training programme was initiated in India by TRAFFIC/WWF in 2008 and since then 14 handlers and seven dogs and have been successfully trained to detect wildlife articles such as tiger and leopard parts as well as bear bile.