Man's best friend is also a ranger's best friend when it comes to searching for, tracking, attacking and catching poachers

Dogs in Tanzania sniff out illegal ivory tusks in new anti-poaching effort

Two specially trained dogs help wildlife officials find tusks ‘within a minute’ as part of project between Tanzanian authorities and Wildlife Conservation Society
A newly deployed team of specially trained dogs have helped authorities in Tanzania seize a haul of elephant tusks, with conservationists hoping the canine allies can help significantly slow rampant poaching in the country.

The dogs – Jenny, a Belgian Malinois, and Dexter, an English springer spaniel – discovered the four tusks at a property following a tipoff. A man was taken into custody over the ivory haul, which was initially missed by wildlife officials but found “within a minute” by Jenny’s keen nose.

The bust follows an 18-month training program that involved dogs being selected by Wagtail UK, a dog training school based in Wales, and flown to Tanzania’s largest national park, Ruaha. The dogs and their handlers have been trained to detect ivory and guns stowed away by poachers who have ravaged Tanzania’s elephant population in recent years.