The dogs have proven that they’re man’s best friend over and over again in the course of time. They are lovable, cute, loyal and mischievous at times. But they will be with you anytime that you will need them.
The relationship has been taken to a newer level with the reporting of a ‘ K9 rapid response unit’, operating in South Africa. Assisting and having the backs of the rangers, these K9 teams have proven to have a higher success rate (around 68%) than humans working alone.
Their training starts when they are just pups
Image credits: Caters
The home to these K9 units, is the Southern African Wildlife College in Greater Kruger National Park. The unit is open to all breeds of dogs ranging from beagles to bloodhounds. They are brought up and trained into this unit starting at very young ages, so that they grow up to be a great help for the rangers.
Number of rhinos saved from poachers rises up to 45
Image credits: Caters
All breeds are welcome to join the unit
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The ‘K9 Master’; Johan Van Straaten says that they collect data for best practice for the unit and it shows with the prevented poaching incidents, since the K9 unit started to operate in 2018.
A thorough training by the ‘K9 Master’ for the dogs, to operate under pressure
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A responsibility on the K9 unit, since 80% of the world Rhino population resides in Africa
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The success rates of patrols with K9 units are much higher than the patrols which are done completely by humans. They are much faster and much better at tracking on various terrains, which gives the patrols a high chance to succeed.
High success rates with tracking dogs both with on and off leash
Image credits: Caters
Patrols with no canine assistance have success rates low as 3-5%
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The ‘K9 Master’ explains that they train different breeds of dogs from a very young age socialized with humans and also one another. They are skilled in free tracking, incursion, detection, patrol and apprehension. They are skilled with counter poaching procedures and also with basic obedience.
Free tracking dogs have been a game changer with many possibilities which human trackers cannot achieve at present
Image credits: Caters
South Africa is the best place for this project to be initiated, taking the poaching rates into consideration
Image credits: Caters
The training starts around six months of age and they acquire the necessary skills easily. But they take up to 18 months to be operational in real world scenarios handling pressure.
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