UK-Trained Dogs Chase and Corral Poachers in Africa

Thought Question: If you could train an animal to help with something important, what would it be and why?

Southwestern Wales in the UK is a long way from sub-Saharan Zimbabwe. But that’s the distance traveled for Shinga and a number of other Welch-bred dogs. Their life mission is to conserve wildlife in Africa.

The small Welsh town of Carmarthen is the home of the kennels of Dogs4Wildlife. It's a nonprofit that trains dogs to track poachers of elephants, rhinos, and other animals in the wilds of Africa. Darren Priddle and Jacqui Law are professional dog trainers. They ready dogs for law enforcement work. They created Dogs4Wildlife. They came up with the idea after seeing photos of a poached African rhino on the web in 2015.   

It was such an awful image, Priddle told CNN. Priddle said the image really stayed with them. The trainers then sat down and thought about how they already deployed dogs to track people and look for drugs and weapons. Priddle said this made them think about training dogs for conservation efforts. 

Since then, the trainers have sent 15 dogs to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Tanzania for such work. Deployed dogs include Shinga, a Belgian Malinois. Shinga recently retraced a poacher’s 2.8-mile route home. Shinga led a Zimbabwean anti-poaching team to the man’s door. He was arrested for killing a rhino to sell its horns. 

It takes 16 months for the two Welsh men to train a dog to follow the scent of poached animals. It’s hard to part with their canines after forming a close bond. 

“The transition from spending every waking moment with that dog, having a very strong relationship, to then letting that go is (hard),” Law told CNN. “But as much as it breaks my heart when they go, I know they’re going for the greater good.”   

Gif of a Belgian Malinois from GIPHY.