Dogs Trained To Protect Wildlife Save 45 Rhinos From Poachers

From beagle to bloodhound, there's no dog too small to protect the endangered species from poachers.

The dogs begin training from birth and learn how to handle all the pressures of real operations before working - which usually happens when they reach 18 months old.

Sean Viljoen, 29, based in Cape Town, South Africa, has shared photographs of the dogs in action at the Southern African Wildlife College in Greater Kruger National Park.

He is the owner of a production company called Conservation Film Company, which aims to bring cinematic storytelling to the characters on the front line of conservation, sharing stories of hope.

Johan van Straaten, a 'K9 Master' at the college, said: "The data we collect for this applied learning project, aimed at informing best practice, shows we have prevented approximately 45 rhinos being killed since the free tracking dogs became operational in February 2018.

"In the areas where the Southern African Wildlife College patrol, the success rate of the dogs is around 68 percent using both on and off leash free tracking dogs, compared to between three to five percent with no canine capacity.

"The game changer has been the free tracking dogs who are able to track at speeds much faster than a human can, in terrain where the best human trackers would lose spoor.

"As such, the project is helping ensure the survival of southern Africa's rich biodiversity and its wildlife including its rhino which have been severely impacted by wildlife crime. South Africa holds nearly 80 percent of the world's rhinos.

"Over the past decade over 8,000 rhinos have been lost to poaching, making it the country hardest hit by this poaching onslaught."

The dogs - which include a Texan Black-and-Tan Coonhounds, Belgian Malinois, Foxhounds and Blue Ticks - are trained to 'benefit required counter poaching initiatives' which includes free tracking, incursion, detection, patrol and apprehension dogs.

Johan added: "They begin training from birth and are socialised from a very young age. They learn how to track, bay at a person in a tree and follow basic obedience.

"At six months we put all that training together more formally - they do have the necessary skill set to do the work at a younger age but are not mature enough to handle all the pressures of real operations.

"Depending on a number of factors, dogs become operational at around 18 months old."