Mancherial: Sometimes, fighting fire with fire proves to be the most effective strategy. In such a tactical move, a sniffer dog, drafted by the forest department has become a nightmare for poachers and teak smugglers from not only erstwhile Adilabad district, but also neighbouring districts.
Poachers of this region traditionally use stray dogs to hunt wild animals by training them. They can easily kill herbivores such as deer by taking assistance from the dogs that chase and pounce on the wild animals. Wood smugglers too rely on the dogs for protection. They are now afraid to commit an offence. Courtesy: A game changer sniffer dog being applied by the forest department.
The dog named ‘Hunter’ is one of the two dogs sanctioned to tiger reserves, Kawal and Amrabad to check various forest crimes in August last year. It was trained at the National Training Centre for Dogs (NTCD) in Haryana. Since then, it has been successfully cracking tough cases, sending literally shockwaves among the offenders and easing the jobs of forest officials.
“Hunter managed to crack over 15 cases, mostly poaching which occurred in the jurisdiction of Kawal, Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Jagtial districts in the past year. Its performance is comparatively commendable. It is a vital asset in forest protection,” Jannaram Forest Divisional Officer M Ram Mohan told ‘Telangana Today,’ while commenting on the canine’s efficiency and an asset .
In its latest success story, the sniffer dog helped the forest officials in detecting three poachers of Sambar deer hunted in the forests of Devapur range. It was earlier instrumental in trailing a wildlife hunter who killed a deer in Tiryani range. The accused in turn confessed to committing the offence with the help of 21 others in June, surprising many.
Besides, the Belgian Shepherd breed dog has aided the forest officials in nabbing teak smugglers in Jannaram range in Mancherial, Adilabad and Raikal of Jagtial district. The officials are now conducting the programmes to sensitize the public over consequences of wildlife crimes using the dog. They are explaining how the dog can easily detect the offenders.
Officials said a dedicated Forest Beat Officer was deputed to handle the dog, while around Rs 15,000 was being spent for its maintenance every month. They stated that the dog could solve cases immediately after the crime.
