The Endangered Wildlife Trust has four new canines on the team; the girls have started working within reserves dedicated to saving endangered species.
South Africa (20 December 2021) – The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s canine unit grew by four as the team welcomed new dogs into their ranks in early 2021. The canines have recently been paired with their handlers.
The four 18-month-old female Belgian Malinoises are Reaper, Nala, Bekah, and Kesatoba. The canines originated from the USA and are on long-term loan to us from Global Conservation Force (GCF), a US-based conservation NGO.
When the canines arrived in South Africa, they were sent to training at the Kilo9 Kennels in Hoedspruit. All four ladies showed great potential as conservation canines.
They have since been sent to the Endangered Wildlife Conservation Campus, where they have been put through their paces and shown their genuine aptitudes. Three of the dogs have shown their skills in tracking in the field, and the fourth has shown skills of being a wildlife sniff-out dog at OR Tambo.
During November 2021, two of the tracking dogs were assigned to their new reserve handlers and have now been deployed to the reserves to get to work.
This deployment was made possible by funding from IUCN Save Our Species and the EU International Partnerships. The two remaining dogs will start working in January 2022.
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