WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?

Annie Dupre-Reynolds, Manager, EWT Wildlife in Trade Programme

AnnieD@ewt.org.za

The EWT Conservation Canines are sniffing and tracking their way into a busy 2020! From screening vehicles for wildlife products, to tracking in game reserves, to anti-poaching initiatives, our canines support the conservation sector in well-structured security plans.

This January, Annie DuPre-Reynolds, the new Wildlife in Trade Programme Manager, got a chance to visit some of our canines in the field. Her first stop was to see Conservation Canine Annie (see photo). Annie (a Belgian Malinois) works in the lowveld where she is an integral part of an anti-poaching unit. One of our other canines, Fury, does detection work in KZN with his handler, Shay. Since their deployment in early January, Shay and Fury have screened over 375 vehicles.

We have big plans for our Conservation Canines. Our beautiful new kennels are up and running at the new EWT Conservation Campus in Midrand. We train our canines on-site and our detection dogs can identify key wildlife products, including rhino horn, elephant ivory, and pangolin scales, among others. Our Conservation Canines Hitsch and Pirate (in training), can also identify arms and ammunition. Our Conservation Canines are strategically placed across South Africa’s private, provincial and national parks, where they can have the most impact on anti-poaching and anti-smuggling operations.

This work is made possible by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tourvest, Royal Canin, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Relate Trust and Platinum Life.

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A word from the CEO May 2023

It is widely known that plastic, in its various forms, can be found in every ecosystem, on every surface and in every corner of the planet. It leaches toxins and strangles wildlife; it chokes waterways and animals. Microplastics negatively affect all life, humans included. Yet we keep manufacturing them; worse, we keep discarding them recklessly and frivolously, as if they were leaves on the wind. Every single human being has a role to play here. We all need to buy less plastic, use less plastic, demand less plastic, and, most important, discard it responsibly.