Dogs that Fight Illegal Hunting in Africa
Using their sense of smell, some dogs are trained to help combat illegal animal hunting in Africa. This ‘sport’ is a big problem for the planet since it endangers many animals. In today’s article, we’ll tell you about dogs that fight illegal hunting.
Illegal hunting in Africa
Authorities aren’t sure what to do about illegal hunting anymore. Although it’s illegal, it still exists. Man’s idea that he rules the planet has gone too far. Millions of animals die each year at the hands of poachers. This mostly takes place in Africa, where they organize special safaris solely for this purpose.
To keep the killing of elephants (among other animals) from getting even worse than it already is, professionals have been training a group of bloodhound dogs.
In Mugie, Kenya, groups of people with rifles and special shotguns go into the Savannah looking to hunt the few remaining elephants. Many of them walk across the Somalian border to take part in this horrible activity.
Traffickers will make the situation even worse by selling the animals’ tusks.
In the last decade, the elephant population throughout Africa has declined by a third. This is mostly due to hunting. Each year, hunters kill about 35,000 specimens. And, unbelievably, many of them do it for fun. Others do it as a business, and sell the ivory to countries like China, where having this material is considered a symbol of status.
Corrupt governments, armed groups and hunters who don’t obey the laws form an explosive combo that’s killing African elephants. That’s why the struggle to stop these million dollar activities has turned into a war.
Dogs that fight illegal hunting in Africa
Unfortunately, trying to raise awareness among foreigners and residents hasn’t had any effect. Neither has talking about sanctions or time in prison. Education in Aboriginal communities was one of the first steps to prevent the problem from reaching a point of no return.
They’ve created patrols that track the hunters’ movements, and they’ve been able to follow the routes that elephant traffickers take.
It has reached the point of prohibitions and physical punishment. Kenya’s authorities allow their park rangers to kill hunters they find prowling the area, but this isn’t the solution.
They’re looking for more techniques that will help them protect more of the native species. One of the latest strategies is to train bloodhound dogs to detect poachers.
Dogs on guard in Kenya
In the Mugie Reserve in central Kenya, there are trained dogs on guard. Using their excellent sense of smell (which is greater than that of any other breed), they’re able to expertly follow traces that are almost imperceptible to humans. This initiative has already been so effective that other areas of the continent have also adopted this technique.
The problem is that the parks are so large that the dogs often can’t get to the right place on time. When they arrive, the hunter has already fled and has been gone for several hours. However, little by little they are adding more dogs to the ranger service.
One of the most important anecdotes of the dogs’ work was when they found some traffickers after looking for them for 30 miles. These men went to prison for having several ivory tusks in their possession.
Currently, bloodhound dogs are more of a deterrent strategy for poachers. So far, they have had very positive effects. That’s because those who come to this park to kill animals now know that they can’t hide from these dogs.