Jorba, the lone sniffer dog deployed in Assam's Kaziranga National Park to combat rhino poachers, will now have company.
The park authorities have decided to have two more sniffer dogs -- Kareena and Babli -- to save the famed one-horned rhinoceros from poachers.
After months of training in conducting anti-poaching operations, the sniffer dogs have now arrived in Assam and would be in action after getting acquainted with the landscape.
"Dogs have proved to be very effective in anti-poaching operations. Our forests need a good number of these canines. They give us very vital clues, even trace poachers or wildlife articles after the crime has been committed," Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj, head of wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, told PTI.
Kareena, a German Shepherd, has been brought over by TRAFFIC while Babli of Belgian Shepherd species will be given by Guwahati-based conservation body Aaranyak.
Kaziranga's tryst with canine detectives had begun in 2013 when Jorba was imported from Slovakia by Aaranyak.
Since then the five-year-old dog has led to more than 10 arrests and officials claim it's success ratio was more than 60 per cent.
"We are very happy with the experience. They were successful in 60 per cent of the cases. Sometimes difficult terrain and rainy weather limits their efficiency," Kaziranga park director M K Yadava said.
Any object left at the crime scene by the poacher or even his footprint becomes a tool for the dog to trace him with the power of its nose.
