Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, India, has taken a new and important step to make its wildlife protection stronger. For the first time in the history of this park, a special dog squad has been added to help stop wildlife crime. This step will make the work of forest officials more effective. It will also help them act quickly when there is any illegal activity inside the park.
Ranthambore National Park is well known all over the world because it has a large number of tigers. Many tourists visit this park to see these tigers by making a Ranthambore safari booking. However, the park also hosts many more native wildlife species. It has leopards, deer, bears, and many other wild animals. Because of so many valuable animals, some people try to hunt them illegally or trade their body parts. This is illegal and damaging to nature.
Now, a specially trained sniffer dog will help the forest officials. This dog can smell and find things that humans cannot detect easily. This means that poachers and other criminals will have a harder time doing illegal activities inside the park. It will also make them afraid to try, because they know the dog can help catch them quickly. This is not only about finding criminals but also about stopping them before they harm wildlife.
About Lucy The Sniffer Dog
The main member of this new dog squad is a female Belgian Malinois named Lucy. This breed of dog is known for being very intelligent, very active, and very good at smelling things from far away. Around the world, Belgian Malinois dogs are often used in police work, army work, and in protecting wildlife. They can operate in different environments and learn many skills.
Lucy has come to Ranthambore National Park with the support of the WWF India team. WWF India is an organisation that works to protect animals and the environment in many parts of India. Lucy will not work alone. She has a handler whose name is Mukut Meena, and an assistant whose name is Rohit Meena. The three of them will work together as one small team, but they will be able to do a lot of important work.
Lucy’s job will be very important because she can smell and track things that human forest officials cannot find easily. This makes her a valuable partner in protecting the tigers and other animals in the park.
Training Details
Before coming to Ranthambore National Park, Lucy had to go through special training. She received her full training at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Dog Training Centre based in Panchkula, Haryana. Her training lasted for seven months. During this time, she learned many skills that will help her in the field.
The training taught Lucy how to follow a smell for a long distance. She learned to find hidden wildlife body parts like skins, bones, and meat. She also learned to find weapons or traps that poachers use. Another part of her training was to follow the smell of a person across difficult areas like forests, hills, and rivers.
Lucy also practiced working in real-life situations, so she can help the forest officials in actual cases. Now that she has finished her training, she is ready to join patrolling teams and help in investigations. She will be working with the staff of the Forest Department to conserve and protect wildlife within the park.
Why This Step Was Needed
The reason for adding a dog squad to Ranthambore National Park is that poaching has been increasing in recent times. Poaching means killing or catching wild animals illegally. Some people kill animals for their meat. Others kill them for body parts like skin, bones, or horns, which are then sold for money. These actions create problems for the animals and also disturb the natural balance that needs to stay in the park.
Before Lucy came, forest officials had to investigate crimes without the help of detection dogs. They sometimes caught criminals, but many times they missed important clues. This is because humans cannot smell or track as well as trained dogs. Without a dog, it was easy for criminals to hide evidence or escape without being caught.
Now that Lucy is here, there is a much better chance for the Forest Department to find criminals and gather evidence. This will help them stop poaching faster and protect the park’s tigers and other animals.
How The Dog Squad Will Work
Lucy will have many duties inside Ranthambore National Park. One of her main jobs will be to patrol the areas that are at high risk for illegal activities. She will work with forest officials and visit places where poachers might set traps or hide.
When a poaching case happens, Lucy will use her sense of smell to follow the trail left by the criminals. She can do this even if the trail goes through forests, over rocks, or across rivers. This will help officials catch poachers quickly.
Lucy will also help find hidden items like animal skins, bones, or meat that poachers may hide in the forest or in villages nearby. She can also find traps and weapons used for hunting.
Her work will not just stop at finding these things. Lucy will also help in collecting evidence that can be used in court. This is important because the law needs proof to punish the criminals. By helping gather scent-based forensic evidence, Lucy will make the legal cases stronger, so offenders cannot escape punishment.
Hopes And Expected Results
Officials at Ranthambore National Park are hopeful that Lucy’s work will make wildlife protection stronger. They expect that with Lucy’s help, investigations will become faster and more accurate. This means that criminals can be caught before they cause more harm.
They also believe that the presence of a sniffer dog will make people think twice before doing anything illegal. If poachers know that there is a trained detection dog in the park, they may be afraid of getting caught and decide not to try.
Scent forensics is helping forest workers daily, giving them new methods to improve how they protect wild animals. This example can also inspire other national parks in India to use similar methods.
The goal is clear: protect the tigers, leopards, deer, and other wild animals of Ranthambore National Park. By keeping the park safe, visitors who make their Ranthambore safari booking will be able to enjoy seeing animals in their natural home for many years to come.
