(From left) Dangerous dog expert Volker Sirvend, Lubbe-Scheuermann and deputy director of the Viernheim animal shelter Nicole Tomera with German shepherds Janosch Risima (left) and Dokas Hambana. -- ANDREAS ARNOLD/dpa
Dokas Hambana and Janosch Risima, curious and playful, romp around in a German garden - far from their eventual workplace.
The German shepherds' names mean difference and significant, dog trainer Perdita Lubbe-Scheuermann says.
The two four-legged friends, along with another Belgian Shepherd, will soon begin their training as rhino horn sniffer dogs before being deployed at South Africa's Kruger National Park to help combat poaching.
"Two will go down in autumn," says Lubbe-Scheuermann. After a comprehensive veterinary examination, training begins.
This current troop of three "trainees" brings to 10 the total number of dogs trained, on a voluntary basis, at this facility near Frankfurt.
Training is intensive
Training a sniffer dog is hard work. A rhino horn has the same odour intensity as a fingernail. However, this is no problem for the dogs.
"You have to allow three or four months, which means intensive work. First of all, it's about consolidating the scent patterns.
Then, of course, all kinds of situations where something is hidden that you then search for with the dog," says Volker Sirvend, the retired former head of training for service dogs at the Central Hesse police headquarters.
After completing their training, the dogs will be stationed at the gates of Kruger National Park in South Africa, where they will sniff out rhino horns.
According to Lubbe-Scheuermann, the three dogs are going to Viernheim, where the deputy head of the animal shelter, Nicole Tomera, is helping with the training. Their first task is to get accustomed to their new surroundings.
"They don't know the environment, the trams and the noise," says Lubbe-Scheuermann. To help them adjust, the dogs are also taken to the zoo to meet elephants and other animals. They must also be able to tolerate the sounds of thunderstorms and gunfire, she adds.
One dog had to be withdrawn from the programme after reacting aggressively to a gunshot.
"And that doesn't work for Africa," says the dog trainer and children's book author, who has published the story Thamba's Great Adventure: How A Little Rhino Was Rescued.
According to Sirvend, the dogs must have a strong drive and not be aggressive.
Officially just under 230 rhinos poached
After the dogs are on the ground in South Africa, they check vehicles at entrance gates to track down potential poachers.
Almost 230 rhinos were poached in the first half of 2024, according to official figures from the South African Department of Environmental Affairs.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) sees a worrying trend for the previous year. In 2023, just under 500 rhinos were officially poached in South Africa, 11% more than in the previous year.
While there were an estimated 500,000 rhinos living on Earth at the beginning of the 20th century, there are now fewer than 28,000 left in the wild due to illegal hunting. In the Kruger National Park, considerable progress has been made thanks to dehorning measures.
"These are the official figures, but unofficially it looks different," Lubbe-Scheuermann is certain. "You can't even find them, the Kruger National Park is so big." There are many remote areas where poaching still takes place.
Lubbe-Scheuermann and her husband launched the "Save the Rhino" campaign in 2012.
While the dog training is carried out on a voluntary basis, it still involves significant costs - veterinary care, transport, and flights - which are covered entirely by donations.
Dehorning is not a panacea either, she notes. The animals are still killed because of the remaining horn. A kilogram of rhino horn - sought as a supposed cure or status symbol - can fetch tens of thousands of dollars.
"It is becoming more and more valuable because there are fewer and fewer rhinos." - By OLIVER PIETSCHMANN/dpa