Animals are protecting their kind from poaching and wildlife trafficking

Elephants on the way to deliver food aid and essentials to Che Wong Orang Asli village located deep in the Krau Wildlife Reserve in April. — Perhilitan

From sniffer dogs to jumbo patrols, wildlife authorities in Malaysia are increasingly using animals to help save and protect other animals from poaching and trafficking.

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) recently acquired two sniffer dogs for its newly-formed K9 Unit.

“The unit was set up in June last year with the cooperation of the research and conservation group Rimba as part of our effort to curb wildlife crime,” said the department in reply to email queries from The Star.

This is the first time that such a unit has been set up in Peninsular Malaysia, and Perhilitan believes it will improve its enforcement measures against wildlife trafficking.

“Their specialty lies in their extremely keen sense of smell compared with other animals.”

Perhilitan's sniffers dogs have been trained to find wildlife and wildlife parts in baggage. — Perhilitan

Thanks to dogs’ highly developed sense of smell – these animals have up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses compared with only six million in human noses – they are enlisted by conservation groups and authorities worldwide to sniff out everything from poachers in Africa to invasive species like brown snakes in Hawaii.

“The use of these tracker dogs for wildlife protection is in line with our need to have different methods of enforcement to curb wildlife crimes, ” says the department.

The dogs, a Labrador and a Dutch shepherd, were trained in South Africa to detect wildlife and wildlife parts before they were sent to Perhilitan. The department uploaded pictures of the dogs working at container ports and airports on its social media page in July.

While sniffer canines are often deployed at a country’s entry and exit points on the frontline, in Malaysia, elephants are bringing up the rear in the war against poachers.

Since last year, the pachyderm inmates of the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, Pahang, have been used in mounted patrols once every two months.

The patrols, carried out within the borders of Pahang’s Krau Wildlife Reserve, involve four to five elephants with their mahouts, or handlers.

“The patrols take place along the border of the reserve where landslides, cut off roads and the terrain are making it difficult to deploy even 4WD vehicles, ” says Perhilitan.

The elephants were also part of efforts to transport food to four remote Che Wong Orang Asli villages during the movement control order period in May.

The regular jumbo patrols act as an alternative to activities usually carried out to strengthen the bond between the elephants and their mahouts, as well as to make the animals more fit, Perhilitan says.

“We believe that the enforcement activities against poachers in the reserve will be increased via the patrols.”

One of Perhilitan's new sniffer dogs at work at a container of goods at the ports. — Perhilitan

Besides Malaysia, authorities in countries like India and Indonesia also have elephant patrols guarding against poaching.