´Saving the Dogs who Save Elephants and Rhinos.´

In Zambia, where the poaching of elephants and rhinos is rampant, rescue dogs help wildlife police shut down poaching operations.

Rescues 2the Rescue is an American organization which operates in the U.S. and Canada and is dedicated to saving dogs from animal shelters.  The organization trains dogs to help African wildlife police find smuggled goods.  Rescues 2the Rescue typically rescues dogs that are high energy and intense, making them hard to adopt, and many of them will be euthanized or live out their lives in shelters.

The characteristics that make these dogs so difficult to adopt, make their vitality the ideal trait needed to become a wildlife partner to African wildlife police. These dogs become uniquely qualified to protect the areas where elephants and rhinos live.  Without these canine units, wildlife police in Africa would take much longer to find smuggled elephant tusks, rhino horns, illegal weapons and ammunition.

In some cases, poachers rent guns and use them to kill protected wildlife. Taking away guns before they are used in the field, helps put poachers out of business.

Wildlife police officers in North Luangwa Park, Zambia, say they could not protect the wildlife adequately without these dogs.  The dogs search and sniff out elephant tusks which are intended for the international markets, according to a National Geographic survey.  The biggest markets include: China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philipines and the U.S; rhino horns, which are mostly intended for Asian markets and worth in most cases around $300,000, are of huge value in Vietnam.  Some People in Vietnam think rhino horns cure cancer and hangovers. 

Large scale poaching has put the black rhino on the Critically Endangered list, with their population rate down to only a few thousand, according to Save the Rhino Org. Thanks to the help of these Rescues 2the Rescue canines and stricter measures against poaching, the black rhino population is increasing.

In the incribly fascinating book,’The Eye of the Elephant,’ by Mark and Delia Owens, they wrote about their experience, anti-poaching operation and community endeavors while living in North Luangwa Park in Zambia in the 1980’s. They wrote that when they first saw a group of elephants near a river, that the elephants were so frightened by the presence of humans, that they would not drink. They describe their terrible discovery of huge amounts of elephant skeletons and killing fields.  They learned that poachers were often armed with AK-47s and operated in large groups.  The Owenses´ approach to conservation saved the lives of elephants and is an eye-opening look into the neverending poaching crisis and corruption that surrounds it.

The international ivory trade has made the elephant population plummet, but in recent years, stronger laws and tougher enforcement have made their numbers recover.  But much still needs to be done to step up efforts against elephant and rhino poaching, and ivory trafficking.

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