Poaching, trafficking cases drop as use of dogs in conservation picks up

A sniffer dog goes through the hundreds of boxes containing lolipop sweats on display after they were removed from a container at the port of Mombasa. [Gideon Maundu, Standard]

On March 18, 2016, detection dogs attached to the canine unit at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport helped to bust a pangolin-trafficking network after sniffing out a consignment that had been declared as feathers.

The unaccompanied consignment from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo was destined for Bangkok, Thailand. The journey was, however, cut short by dogs which have since almost disrupted the illegal trade and trafficking of wildlife products.