Wood smugglers, beware. There's a new detective in town, and he's got a real nose for crime.
Galileo, an eight-year-old Belgian Malinois, has sniffed out 51 cases and put 94 timber thieves behind bars in the Veerangana Rani Durgawati Tiger Reserve, according to The Free Press Journal. He began working in the park in 2020 and started his career in the crocodile sanctuary in Morena before moving up to the tiger reserve in Nauradehi.
His trainer, Preetam Ahirwar, told the outlet, "Galileo is so agile that it reaches the target in the blink of an eye."
The clever dog has also handled a case where a leopard and a bear were killed, solving it when he found a clue in connection with the hunting of a black buck.
For his efforts, Galileo gets a special vehicle for transport and a special diet from the city of Bhopal, four hours away, with a budget of Rs 50,000 a month (around $583 U.S.).
Galileo's work is highly important to protect India's forests and vital to limiting the illegal lumber trade. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), it's the third-largest transnational crime, after counterfeiting and drugs, estimated to be worth between $50 billion to $150 billion annually.
Illegal logging also has a major environmental impact. The WWF reports that up to 90% of tropical deforestation is due to illegal logging, and the loss disrupts the ecosystems and biodiversity of those forests and beyond.
Working dogs like Galileo play many important roles in helping protect the environment, using their natural skills in a variety of ways. The canine consulting company Chiron K9 has begun training dogs to detect oil spills. At the same time, Scruff, an elderly border collie, has made a career of sniffing out plastic bottles in his neighborhood in England and has picked up over 1,000 bottles since he began his work in 2022.
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