Valmiki Tiger Reserve would soon have the services of sniffer dogs to prevent smuggling of wildlife organs.

Traffic India, a non-government organisation working to curb trade in illegal wildlife products, has decided to provide two trained German Shepherds to Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), around 300km northwest of Patna. Bihar would be the sixth state after Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Haryana to have such a squad.

At present, specialists at an academy in Bhopal are training the two German Shepherds. The nine-month training process began in April. Apart from the sniffer dogs, the academy would provide training to their handlers. The VTR authorities have selected four youths to serve as handlers.

“We are spending around Rs 12 lakh, including the price of sniffer dogs and the expenses for training them and their handlers,” Traffic India associate director MKS Pasha told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi.

The dogs would get special training to sniff out animal skin, bones and rhinoceros horns that are in huge demand in the international market.

Pasha said the VTR, which has a long border with Nepal, was vulnerable to smuggling of such articles (see graphics).

Asked about the expectations from the dogs, Pasha said they had been of great help in preventing smuggling of wildlife products in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. “Around six months ago, sniffer dogs helped in detecting tusks that wete being smuggled out of Jharkhand,” he said.

The VTR management has started to set up two kennels for the canine recruits. “Around Rs 1 lakh would be spent on the kennels,” said VTR director Santosh Tiwari

The monthly allowance for the handlers would be provided from funds earmarked for hiring additional personnel for the reserve. The VTR management would also incur an expenditure of around Rs 5,000 every month for the sniffer dogs.

To ensure that all the facilities are in place, a team of Traffic India would visit the VTR before providing the dogs. “Apart from using the services of sniffer dogs near transit points inside the reserve, we would also deploy them nearby bus stands and railway stations to keep tabs on people involved in smuggling of organs of animals,” said Tiwari.