From puppies to protectors: New batch begins training under WWF-India's wildlife sniffer dog programme

Panchkula, Haryana: Wildlife crime is a serious threat to India's rich biodiversity, driving poaching, trafficking, and illegal trade of protected species and their derivatives.  To support enforcement agencies in tackling these challenges, WWF-India provides training for wildlife sniffer dogs to strengthen wildlife law enforcement efforts across the country.

In light of the above, a new batch of young dogs and their handlers has begun training under WWF-India's wildlife sniffer dog training programme at the National Training Centre for Dogs & Animals, Basic Training Centre, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, Bhanu, Panchkula, Haryana.  Eight young dogs and their 16 handlers from seven different State Forest Departments and the Railway Protection Force will undergo rigorous training for the next seven months, learning skills to detect and curb wildlife crime.

Young Belgian Malinois aged 3 to 6 months will be trained in specialised wildlife derivative detection and tracking skills to support wildlife law enforcement agencies in preventing, detecting, and investigating wildlife crimes.

The training is divided into two critical phases.  The first phase will focus on developing a bond and trust between the dog and the handler, as well as basic obedience training, which are crucial to becoming a successful wildlife sniffer dog squad.  Later, the dogs will learn sniffing and tracking skills and will be trained to detect tiger, leopard, and bear skins, bones, and other body parts; bear bile; red sanders; and other illegal wildlife products.

Upon successful completion of the training, the wildlife sniffer dog squads will be deployed at the Kawal Tiger Reserve (Telangana), Indravati Tiger Reserve (Chhattisgarh), Bhandara Forest Division (Maharashtra), Satpura Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh), Palamau Tiger Reserve (Jharkhand), Angul Forest Division (Territorial) in Odisha, and Buxa Tiger Reserve (West Bengal).  One wildlife sniffer dog squad is also being trained for deployment by the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Bihar (East Central Zone).

Dr Dipankar Ghose, Senior Director, Biodiversity Conservation, WWF-India, said, "The Railway Protection Force plays a critical role in preventing the smuggling of wildlife articles through India's extensive railway network.  To enhance detection and enforcement capabilities, WWF-India supported the training of four wildlife sniffer dog squads during 2020-2021.  These dog squads have been strategically deployed across the North, West Central, East and South Railway Zones.  We are happy that another wildlife sniffer dog squad will be deployed by the Railway Protection Force in Bihar (East Central Zone) to curb wildlife smuggling". 

Inspector General, National Training Centre for Dogs, Basic Training Centre, Bhanu, Panchkula, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, Shri Rama Kant Sharma said, "As wildlife trafficking networks become increasingly sophisticated, strengthening enforcement capacity is more important than ever.  The training of this new batch of WWF-India's wildlife sniffer dogs at NTCD&A, ITBP, Bhanu, represents another important step towards building a stronger response to wildlife crime.  We are happy to support WWF-India's wildlife sniffer dog training programme and remain committed to enhancing capacities to tackle wildlife crime in the country."

At the end of the training, the dog and their handlers will be tested on what they have learned.  They will pass out in December 2026 after completing their rigorous training to become wildlife sniffer dog squads.  Once deployed, they will assist forest departments and other enforcement agencies in detecting wildlife contraband, tracking offenders, and supporting investigations related to wildlife crime across the country.

NOTES

• WWF-India's wildlife sniffer dog training programme was launched in 2008 with two dog squads.  Till 2025, 120 wildlife sniffer dogs have been trained and deployed in 22 states and Union Territories.  With this current batch of eight, the number of wildlife sniffer dogs trained under the programme will rise to 128, further strengthening India's capacity to combat wildlife crime and protect its invaluable natural heritage.