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Friday, October 07, 2016

Watch: Paratrooper Dogs Hunt Poachers in South Africa

South Africa’s newest anti-poaching weapon: dogs that parachute into wildlife reserves from helicopters

In South Africa, man’s best friend is now poachers’ worst enemy.

To combat the illegal hunting of endangered elephants and rhinos, the country has trained an elite force of poacher-chasing dogs to parachute into wildlife reserves from helicopters. And the dogs are effective—one caught 115 groups of poachers in 18 months.

The organization behind this terrifying approach to conservation is a security tech company called Paramount Group. The BBC recently took a tour of the group’s Anti-Poaching and Canine Training Academy, and filmed some video of the dogs practicing. You can watch that video here.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this. Great idea. Outstandingly job by those who care. I just wish the dogs could be put on the tail of those further up the line. But for now, go get em.

Anonymous said...

Man's best friend is now elephant's and rhino's too!

Anonymous said...

Great idea and well-executed. With drones and other methods to provide surveillance and ready jump teams to do the intervention, maybe a dent can be put in the poaching that's driving some of the most noble animals in the world to extinction.