Everyone knows that dogs are man's best friend - but friends of Rhinos mot so much. But some well trained dogs in South Africa have also proven to be the best friends to endangered wildlife as well. The tracking dog story began when Theresa Sowery, the CEO of the Southern Africa Wildlife College, heard of an American cowboy half way around the world in south Texas who was training special tracking hound dogs, bloodhounds, beagles and others. She contacted him and, what began in 2017 as an introduction of a few dogs to wildlife tracking in South Africa, has now become a wonderful wildlife saving army of dogs. Their efforts have helped rangers and law enforcement catch more than 145 poachers in the region of the Kruger National Park in the last year, saving more than 45 rhinos and potentially stopping the extinction of a species. Since 2010, official figures suggested that 6,925 rhinos had been poached and killed in South Africa. Rhino populations in Asia have also been heavily impacted by poaching. Poaching has been driven by an illicit demand for rhino horn.
Their first time out, the tracking dogs, trained in the U.S. and brought to the Kruger National Park, managed to catch a group of poachers who had just killed a rhino. Since then there has been a tenfold increase in successful apprehensions of poachers thanks to the work of the K9 program. In 2020 in the country of Kenya, there was not a single rhino who lost its horn or its life. South Africa, which is home to 80% of all the rhinos on earth reported a 33% drop in the number of rhinos poached in 2020. In addition to the tracking dogs, decreased travel due to the COVID 19 pandemic, intervention programs to combat poverty in the nearby rural areas and increased policing have also helped.
Rhinos are not the only animal to benefit from these efforts. Elephants, with their ivory tusks, have also had a reprieve in 2020 and elephant deaths have plummeted by 97% according to the Kenyan Wildlife Service. That is such good news. We don't need to poach these animals who are innocently living their lives for our own human vanity and greed. This is a step in the right direction and a victory for the animal kingdom.
Rhinos are not the only animal to benefit from these efforts. Elephants, with their ivory tusks, have also had a reprieve in 2020 and elephant deaths have plummeted by 97% according to the Kenyan Wildlife Service. That is such good news. We don't need to poach these animals who are innocently living their lives for our own human vanity and greed. This is a step in the right direction and a victory for the animal kingdom.
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