Mysuru: ‘Rana,’ the German Shepherd sniffer dog from Bandipura National Park died of age-related sickness on Monday August 1. Rana was the first member of the canine squad of Karnataka, created for wildlife crime detection.
The 10-year-old had earned the sobriquet ‘The Hunter’ for detecting and helping to solve over 10 wildlife crime cases.
Rana was inducted into Bandipura Forest Department and was attached to the Special Tiger Protection Force to protect the forest from poachers when he was just one-and-a-half-years old.
The smart dog which originally hailed from Hyderabad was trained at Bhopal’s 23rd Battalion of Special Armed Reserve Forces, exclusively to detect and prevent wildlife crimes. Rana’s last rites were performed in Bandipura after the officials paid their last respect to the canine draped in the Indian National Flag.
