Valavan has a nose for forest crimes

Coimbatore: A male Chippiparai dog that underwent three-month intensive training at Tamil Nadu Forestry Training College in Theni is helping Coimbatore forest division personnel sniff out forest crimes.
Valavan (skilful) was one of the four Chippiparai puppies that began training at the college in March. The forest department has also recruited Kaduvan (tiger) for Pollachi division, Kaligan (sky) for Nilgiris division and Athavai (female elephant) for Gudalur division.
“The puppies underwent obedience training in the first phase and sniffing training in the second phase. They were handed over to the forest divisions a few days ago. They can sniff out sandalwood, teak wood, ganja, ivory, deer horn, raw meat and skin of wild animals,” said assistant conservator of forests M Senthilkumar.
A dog handler and his assistant are taking care of Valavan at Boluvampatti forest range office.
“Native breeds require less maintenance compared to imported breeds. Chippiparai and Kombai excel at sniffing out forest crimes. We will monitor Valavan’s performance for some months and bring more sniffer dogs to the forest division,” Senthilkumar added.