Conservation dogs, Rhino and Shaya, helped game reserve staff and the local community to track down the suspects in a farmhouse burglary near Balule Private Nature Reserve on December 6.
The dogs’ deployment in the reserve was facilitated by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT)’s Rhino project.
The EWT is based in Modderfontein and its conservation dogs form part of the overall anti-poaching efforts at the Balule reserve.
Barely a week after Rhino had arrived at the reserve, a call came from the local Farmer’s Watch that a farmhouse nearby had been broken into and rifles stolen.
Rhino was deployed and immediately found a track which led straight to the suspects, who were trying to open the gun safe they had stolen.
One suspect managed to get away while the other was arrested.
The suspects had thrown the hunting rifles from the gun safe into the bush, but Shaya, the sniffer dog, was put to work and quickly found them.
The arrested suspect led reserve staff and farmers to the shack where he and his accomplices live and Shaya helped recover three more handguns and a number of foreign passports and cellular phones, which could provide crucial intelligence to criminal investigations.
Through the dogs’ combined efforts, within 12 hours of the incident, one suspect was in custody, and four hunting rifles and three handguns had been removed from the local community.
“Both Rhino and Shaya were instrumental in tracking down the suspects. Working as a team to their individual strengths, Rhino did the tracking and Shaya found the weapons. While not directly a rhino-linked crime, there is a strong possibility that the stolen hunting rifles could find their way into poachers’ hands. Conservation dogs are playing an increasingly important role in tackling the scourge of wildlife crime – these animals are often the unsung heroes in this battle,” said Ms Kirsty Brebner, EWT’s Rhino Project manager.
Unlike Shaya, a pure-bred Malinois, Rhino is a mongrel rescued by Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW), a community-based welfare organisation providing primary animal healthcare in South Africa.
He was trained and donated to the project by Greendogs Conservation.
“The dogs will help towards efforts to clamp down on wildlife crime and poaching activity in the reserve,” said Ms Brebner.
