Specially-trained 'Supper Sniffer' dog squads will protect the recently-released cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park from poachers.
Eight Cheetahs, five of which are female, were flown from Windhoek, Namibia to Gwalior, followed by a helicopter ride to the grasslands of Kuno Palpur, as reported in this column on 19 September under heading ‘Cheetahs from Namibia get a new home in India’. The Eight cheetahs were introduced in the Kuno National Park on August 17. Cheetahs in India got extinct after the last cheetah died in the country in 1947.
‘Ilu’ will be deployed in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park after seven months of training. She is among the six dogs that are being trained to protect the wildlife at various national parks of the country. After the completion of the basic training for three months and an advance training for four months, the dog will get deployed in the national park from April next year.
The five-month old German Shepherd 'Ilu' is being trained at Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force's (ITBP) National Training Centre for Dogs near Chandigarh to join the 'Supper Sniffer' squad in Madhya Pradesh.
Ilu will be deployed in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park after seven months of training. She is among the six dogs that are being trained to protect the wildlife at various national parks of the country. After the completion of the basic training for three months and an advance training for four months, the dog will get deployed in the national park from April next year. Recommended by The dogs will be trained to learn skills like obedience, sniffing and tracking. She will be trained to detect tiger and leopard skins, bones, elephant tusks and other body parts, bear bile, Red Sanders, and several other illegal wildlife products.
Super sniffer dog squads, trained at the ITBP camp, are deployed in national parks in Maharashtra, Karnataka, "Ilu is not supposed to protect cheetahs because they can protect themselves, she will be deployed on the periphery of the national park along with forest guards to protect cheetahs and other animals from poachers," said Sanjeev Sharma, handler of Ilu, who is currently employed with the forest department at Kuno National Park.
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