ADIEU, NARROW AND SIMBA! Ace wildlife sniffer dogs trained under TRAFFIC and WWF-India’s programme retire
Narrow and Simba had become synonymous with curbing wildlife crime at the Achanakmar Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh. After eight years of successful service to the cause of wildlife protection, the two senior male dogs have now retired.
In 2016, Narrow and Simba joined TRAFFIC and WWF-India’s wildlife sniffer dog training programme in India as part of the fifth batch. The two German Shepherd dogs underwent a rigorous training of nine months along with their handlers Ashish Khare, Kavita Bharadwaj, Suresh Kumar Navarang and Sarita Paikra at the National Training Centre for Dogs (NTCD) in BSF Academy, Tekanpur, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
Narrow and Simba were playful, curious and quick learners as young dogs. They mastered the skills of ace wildlife sniffer dogs at an early age, and with the help of their handlers, they improvised their learnings in the field by detecting and seizing an array of wildlife contrabands.
At Achanakmar Tiger Reserve and the neighbouring forest areas, the wildlife sniffer dog squads were regularly deployed for patrolling, conducting searches in forests and at check posts and parking lots. They also helped the forest officials and police to track alleged poachers and seize illegal wildlife contrabands.
During their tenure, Narrow and Simba assisted in over 60 wildlife cases and helped curb crime against tigers, leopards, elephants, pangolins, bears, gaur, sambar, chital, nilgai, wild boar, wild hare, and snakes, among other wildlife.
Retirement is well deserved for these super achiever dogs, who will continue to spend their life under the care of the Forest Department.
