A dog trained in anti-poaching in Wales helped save an 18-month-old rhino from poachers in South Africa, reports BBC News.
The one-year-old Belgian malinois named Dan was bred and trained at Dogs 4 Wildlife in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
Dan found Viola, a rhino calf that had been caught in a snare in KwaZulu-Natal province with her mother nearby. The pair were both saved. Dogs 4 Wildlife director Jacqui Law said the diligence from the teams on the ground ensured this “good outcome”.
A tweet by Protect all Wildlife on April 19, read, “A critical Rhino poaching incident unfolded late last week at Bonamanzi Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa- highlighting the huge importance of our Ranger & K9 Unit on the reserve.” It added that rhino was rescued and helped by the Dogs 4 Wildlife team.
Dogs 4 Wildlife offers highly trained and fully supported anti poaching dogs alongside advanced ranger training to reserves, conservancies and national parks in need across Southern Africa and the world.
Dan, one of the organisation’s eight dogs, was deployed to KwaZulu Natal in February and is named after dog-lover Daniel Bridle, from Pembrokeshire. Mr Bridle died in 2014 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer a year earlier and his mother, Caroline, funded Dan’s training and his deployment to Africa.
KwaZulu Natal holds 25% of the remaining world’s population of both black and white rhino, making it a target for poachers after numbers elsewhere have reduced.
