‘Margi’ to hound out tiger poachers from Bandipur

By Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: Can a Mudhol Hound do what a German Shepherd has been doing, tackling deadly poachers in the forests of Bandipur and Nagarhole National Parks? The authorities feel so and have decided to deploy the hound to replace ‘Rana’, the ageing German Shepherd which is on the verge of retirement. Rana has been a dependable dog and has helped the forest department in the detection of crimes not only in Bandipur and Nagarhole but also in Mudumalai forests in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. His major achievement is helping foresters nab tiger poachers in Nagarhole.

A few months ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in one of his ‘Mann ki Bhat’ speeches, had spoken about the Mudhol breed which is known to be extremely watchful, intelligent and obedient while discharging its assigned duties. The PM had said that the native breed plays a vital role in building a self-reliant India, and had advocated the use of the Mudhol Hound for tasks like bomb detection, tackling natural disasters and in the police and defence forces. A lot of research is being done on this rare breed which will soon be on forest protection duty. Rana has been working for the last seven years and will be allowed to serve till the time possible after which he will retire. The Mudhol Hound which will succeed him, has already undergone six-month rigorous training at the Police Training Centre at Adugodi in Bengaluru, and will be put on anti-poaching duty soon.

The forest department had bought a pair of dogs from the Mudhol Hound Research Centre at Timmapur village, Mudhol taluk in Bagalkot-a male and a female. Since the male puppy had a defective leg, only the female was sent to Bengaluru for training. She was named ‘Margaret’ but is affectionately called ‘Margi’ by her handlers and is now being trained under Rana to fill his place in the coming months.

Dogs have a rare ability to detected forest related crimes and this had been proved umpteen times by Rana. The Mudhol hound has been trained in identifying objects by smelling them and can detect poachers and wildlife using its sense of smell. The department is likely to induct more Mudhol Hounds in the days to come strengthen vigil in the forest range. The defence forces have been using the Hound especially in dense forests adjoining international borders. Mudhol is a small village in Bagalkot district, which is famous for this rare breed of dogs.

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