Guwahati, June 1: Aaranyak, an Assam-based society engaged in biodiversity conservation, today said it was augmenting its K-9 (dog) squad, currently comprising two Belgian Malinois dogs.

The dog squad is being used to support anti-poaching operations in the three national parks of the state.

The secretary general and CEO of the organisation, Bibhab Kumar Talukdar said, "Our K-9 squad consists of two Belgian Malinois dogs named Zorba and Bubbly. Zorba is based in Kaziranga while Bubbly is kept in Guwahati and sent wherever required. We are in the process of inducting four more dogs as their special abilities have been established in the past while tracking and apprehending poachers in Kaziranga and Orang national parks. Their training has started."

Talukdar said Aaranyak is also bringing an expert from Germany this summer to give special training to the local trainers and the dog handlers.

Zorba and Bubbly are the first instances of dogs being pressed into action to check poaching.

Talukdar said the Malinois is a medium-to-large breed of dog bred primarily for personal protection, detection of explosives and narcotics and during search and rescue operations. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and National Security Guard (NSG) commando unit also use the Malinois.

"Our dogs have been trained to track and detect wildlife products such as tiger and leopard skin and bones, bear bile, ivory and others," Talukdar said.

He appealed to the younger generation to join wildlife conservation efforts initiated by the organisation 28 years ago in the region. "We need nearly Rs 10,000 a month for the maintenance of each dog, excluding the cost of the handler," he said.

Aaranyak's mission to foster conservation of biodiversity has received recognition through several national and international awards recently. It received the Institutional Award in the Field of Science and Technology 2017 from the state government, the Heritage Heroes Award 2016 of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to its programme secretary Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar and the Whitley Award, popularly called the Green Oscar, 2017, to one of its members, Purnima Devi Barman.

Barman last month received the award, instituted by the UK charity Whitley Fund for Nature, for her efforts in conserving the greater adjutant stork.Talukdar said Aaranyak would continue to provide equipment assistance, wildlife crime monitoring and strengthen forensic support through its Wildlife Genetics Laboratory, undertake scientific research for better understanding of several species, enhance tiger and elephant monitoring, work on renewable energy and continue to explore biodiversity in unexplored areas of the region.