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This Pack of Specially Trained Dogs Have Saved 45 Rhinos from Poachers

Source: Instagram/SeanViljoen

The anti-poaching K9 fast response unit are trained to protect wildlife and have so far saved 45 rhinos (and counting) from illegal hunting and helped law enforcement teams catch an unprecedented 145 poachers in South Africa.

Specially Trained Dogs Save 45 Rhinos (so far) from Poachers

A pack of dogs in South Africa, trained to protect wildlife, have so far managed to save the lives of 45 rhinos from poachers. The group began training as puppies and were taught how to handle the pressures of real-world operational duties. Ranging from bloodhounds to beagles, and trained at the Southern African Wildlife College in Greater Kruger National Park, the canines are part of an anti-poaching K9 fast response unit.

They can track at high speeds over even the most difficult terrain; recent exercises have seen them cover 30 kilometers in two hours. Their top speeds, measured regularly over short distances, are around 40 kilometers per hour! Using aerial support to follow the dogs allows the rangers to catch up valuable time in the field.
The ‘game changer’ is using free-tracking dogs as they can track much faster than a human. They can track at high speeds over even the most difficult terrain; recent exercises have seen them cover 30 kilometers in two hours. Their top speeds, measured regularly over short distances, are around 40 kilometers per hour! Using aerial support to follow the dogs allows the rangers to catch up valuable time in the field. Source: Facebook/southernafricanwildlifecollege

From bloodhounds to beagles, the free-tracking dogs are a game changer

The dogs were trained by K9 Master’ Johan van Straaten, and Cape Town-based photographer Sean Viljoen shared photographs of the dogs in action at the South African Wildlife College.

"The data we collect for this applied learning project aimed at informing best practice, shows we have prevented approximately 45 rhino being killed since the free tracking dogs became operational in February 2018," said Johan van Straaten.

Johan added the success rate of the dogs is around 68% in areas where the South African Wildlife College patrol. The game-changer, he says, has been the free tracking dogs, who are able to track speeds much faster than a human.

"Over the past decade over 8,000 rhinos have been lost to poaching making it the country hardest hit by this poaching onslaught. The project is helping ensure the survival of southern Africa’s rich biodiversity and its wildlife including its rhino which has been severely impacted by wildlife crime," said Johan.

Poaching is a huge problem in South Africa, where 80% of the world’s rhino population resides. In the past few decades, over 8,000 rhinos have been killed by poachers, with South Africa being one of the hardest-hit countries.

According to the WWF, African rhinos are now classified as critically endangered as only over 5,000 of them remain in the wild. But there is some good news. Since 2015, the charity ‘Save The Rhino’ recorded a significant downward trend in the number of rhino deaths.

Source: TimesNowNews

The breed pictured are descended from a hundred-year bloodline of free-running hounds bred by trainers in Texas to follow and apprehend escaping convicts. They’re fast, aggressive, and love to work as a team.
Trainer Johan Van Straaten releases Texan black-and-tan coonhounds on an exercise in Kruger. The breed pictured are descended from a hundred-year bloodline of free-running hounds bred by trainers in Texas to follow and apprehend escaping convicts. They’re fast, aggressive, and love to work as a team. Source: Instagram/SeanViljoen

Almost immediately after arriving at the park, the dogs caught a group of poachers

The story began in 2017, when Theresa Sowry, CEO of the Southern Africa Wildlife College, visited a man named Joe Braman at his rural ranch in Southern Texas. Braman was a part-time police officer, businessman, and cowboy with no knowledge of the poaching crisis happening half a world a way—but Sowry had heard Braman trained a special bloodline of dogs that had found great success in helping Texas law enforcement catch escaping prison inmates. She wanted to see for herself whether the animals could be of help at the southern tip of Africa.

“Just think about it,” Braman told National Geographic. “If you spun a globe and threw a dart and it stuck, what’s the odds you’ll find a low-key guy in southern Texas’s coastal bend gettin’ picked to stop the extinction of a species?”

South African National Parks had previously employed anti-poaching teams using individual dogs, but their success was limited. “Kruger was very keen to test free-running dogs,” Sowry explained to NatGeo. “Building a pack dog team is a massive undertaking. You need the right genetics, the right training, and, most importantly, the right mind-set to bring it all together.”

When Braman arrived in South Africa, the plan was simply to asses Kruger National Park’s K9 unit and to train a handful of dogs—but the project quickly expanded to reach a scale that nobody anticipated. After finding that training practices in the country were much different that what he did on his ranch back home, he returned to Texas to train a group of dogs which he could later bring back to Kruger.

Upon returning with his dogs, Braman didn’t know what to expect—but almost immediately after arriving at the park, the canines managed to catch a group of poachers who had killed a rhino. Since then, there has been a ten-fold increase in successful apprehensions of poachers thanks to the work of the K9 program.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the work of the K9 team continues in earnest. On May 7th, the Southern African Wildlife College celebrated the first birthday of the black and tan hound puppies, born from the original dogs that came from Texas—and in six short months, they’ll be joining the veterans out in the field to continue protecting and serving endangered wildlife.

Source: GoodNewsNetwork

But the slow pace of the man-dog pairs meant that poachers often got away. After free-running hounds brought here from Texas arrived, poacher arrests picked up dramatically.
At first, enforcement teams in South Africa’s Kruger National Park used foxhounds on leads to track rhino poachers. But the slow pace of the man-dog pairs meant that poachers often got away. After free-running hounds brought here from Texas arrived, poacher arrests picked up dramatically. Source: SeanViljoen/NationalGeographic
In the areas where the Southern African Wildlife College patrol, the success rate of the dogs is around 68% using both on and off leash free tracking dogs, compared to between 3–5% with no canine capacity.
Everything is better with a dog. In the areas where the Southern African Wildlife College patrol, the success rate of the dogs is around 68% using both on and off leash free tracking dogs, compared to between 3–5% with no canine capacity. Source: Instagram/SeanViljoen
Since then, there has been a ten-fold increase in successful apprehensions of poachers thanks to the work of the K9 program.
Almost immediately after arriving at the park, the canines managed to catch a group of poachers who had killed a rhino. Since then, there has been a ten-fold increase in successful apprehensions of poachers thanks to the work of the K9 program. Source: Instagram/SeanViljoen
Their efforts have helped law enforcement in the region of Kruger National Park catch an “unprecedented 145 poachers and confiscate 53 guns,” according to National Geographic.
Trained to protect wildlife since birth, these hounds began their important work at the age of 18 months. Their efforts have helped law enforcement in the region of Kruger National Park catch an “unprecedented 145 poachers and confiscate 53 guns,” according to National Geographic. Source: Instagram/SeanViljoen
Each dog wants to be first to find the scent. On the run, they signal to each other with yips and barks and won’t quit till they either nab the fugitive or have to stop from exhaustion.
Before being released for the chase: Each dog wants to be first to find the scent. On the run, they signal to each other with yips and barks and won’t quit till they either nab the fugitive or have to stop from exhaustion. Source: SeanViljoen/NationalGeographic
During this training exercise in Kruger, dogs treed a decoy, then surrounded the man, jumping and barking until the anti-poaching team arrived.
When a fugitive is run down by dogs, his first instinct is to clamber into the nearest tree. During this training exercise in Kruger, dogs treed a decoy, then surrounded the man, jumping and barking until the anti-poaching team arrived. Source: NationalGeographic

Animals saving Animals: ASA train and deploy highly specialised dogs to anti-poaching units

Elsewhere in Africa, UK charity Real Africa have also been enthusiastic supporters of anti-poaching dog units for some time now. So far they have funded ten specialist anti-poaching dogs, with four of these deployed to important black rhino breeding areas in Zimbabwe (Vaala), Botswana (Savas and Primaa) and Kenya (Drum) and trained by our UK partner Animals saving Animals.

UK charity Real Africa have been enthusiastic supporters of anti-poaching dog units for some time now. So far they have funded ten specialist anti-poaching dogs, with four of these deployed to important black rhino breeding areas in Zimbabwe (Vaala), Botswana (Savas and Primaa) and Kenya (Drum) and trained by UK partner Animals saving Animals.
Trainee anti-poaching puppy in Botswana. UK charity Real Africa have been enthusiastic supporters of anti-poaching dog units for some time now. So far they have funded ten specialist anti-poaching dogs, with four of these deployed to important black rhino breeding areas in Zimbabwe (Vaala), Botswana (Savas and Primaa) and Kenya (Drum) and trained by UK partner Animals saving Animals. Source: realafrica.co.uk
So far they have funded ten specialist anti-poaching dogs, with four of these deployed to important black rhino breeding areas in Zimbabwe (Vaala), Botswana (Savas and Primaa) and Kenya (Drum) and trained by UK partner Animals saving Animals.
UK charity Real Africa have been enthusiastic supporters of anti-poaching dog units for some time now. So far they have funded ten specialist anti-poaching dogs, with four of these deployed to important black rhino breeding areas in Zimbabwe (Vaala), Botswana (Savas and Primaa) and Kenya (Drum) and trained by UK partner Animals saving Animals. Source: realafrica.co.uk
Animals saving Animals (ASA) train and deploy highly specialised dogs to anti-poaching units. The addition of these canine units has made a huge impact and is a vital tool in the battle against the poachers. At Ol Pejeta in Kenya only one rhino has been poached in two years and at Mkomazi in Tanzania there have been no poaching incidents in the seven months since the dogs caught the last bush meat poaching gang.
Hazard training for dog squad canine recruits in Botswana. Animals saving Animals (ASA) train and deploy highly specialised dogs to anti-poaching units. The addition of these canine units has made a huge impact and is a vital tool in the battle against the poachers. At Ol Pejeta in Kenya only one rhino has been poached in two years and at Mkomazi in Tanzania there have been no poaching incidents in the seven months since the dogs caught the last bush meat poaching gang. Source: realafrica.co.uk
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