Kaziranga National Park conducts workshop to strengthen wildlife crime investigations and field operations

Kaziranga (Assam) [India], October 29 (ANI): Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve Forensics conducted a K9 Workshop at Rhinoland Park, Burapahar Range, Kaziranga National Park, on Wednesday.
The 7-day workshop started on October 24. Sonali Ghosh, Field Director of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve, said the training focused on improving the skills of forest K9 handlers to strengthen wildlife crime investigations and make them more scientific.

"A total of five handlers from the Assam Forest Department and Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) took part in this week-long programme along with three trained contraband detection dogs. This was a handler-focused workshop, aimed at building the confidence, knowledge, and field readiness of the people working with detection dogs, along with training the dogs themselves," said Ghosh.
The Field Director of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve further said that the sessions covered advanced obedience, scent-detection basics, wildlife forensics, first aid for dogs, and mock patrols with crime-scene simulations.

"These hands-on exercises helped handlers and dogs learn to work better as a team during real investigations and field operations," added Ghosh.
The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Scent Library for Conservation, an initiative founded by Kartik Thevar, a conservation cynologist and dog trainer.
The Scent Library aims to establish national standards for training wildlife-detection dogs in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) K9 Cell. This ensures that evidence collected with these dogs' assistance is admissible in court.
"By developing a scent database and scientific training methods, the Scent Library helps make wildlife crime investigations more accurate, consistent, and legally sound. This approach supports forest and enforcement teams in combating wildlife trafficking, protecting endangered species, and improving field operations through K9 assistance," said Ghosh.
The workshop concluded with evaluations and discussions to help participants improve future deployments. (ANI)