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Hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts?

Wildlife detection dog (WDD) programs are increasingly being developed to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. However, there is little scientific research available on how sniffer dogs perform when wildlife parts are hidden during the smuggling process, which hampers the effectiveness of WDD progra...

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Main Authors: Sai Sanggkeeth, Narayanasamy, Chong, Erin, Sheema, Abdul Aziz, Visscher, Wesley, Syed Zafarullah, Abdul Jaafar, Gopalasamy, Reuben Clements *
Format: Article
Published: Wiley 2023
Subjects:
SF Animal culture
Online Access:http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/2739/
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12886
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spelling my.sunway.eprints.27392024-07-05T08:22:22Z http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/2739/ Hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts? Sai Sanggkeeth, Narayanasamy Chong, Erin Sheema, Abdul Aziz Visscher, Wesley Syed Zafarullah, Abdul Jaafar Gopalasamy, Reuben Clements * SF Animal culture Wildlife detection dog (WDD) programs are increasingly being developed to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. However, there is little scientific research available on how sniffer dogs perform when wildlife parts are hidden during the smuggling process, which hampers the effectiveness of WDD programs. Here, we investigate the ability of WDDs to detect wildlife parts that are hidden in legally traded goods. We employed a smell test using the two most smuggled wildlife parts worldwide: elephant ivory and pangolin scales, in combination with two obfuscation items of plant and animal origin commonly employed by smugglers. We then established the sensitivity of the dogs to the target substances. Our results showed that there was a large variation between the two dogs in their sensitivity to ivory and pangolin scales. However, both dogs were generally less sensitive to ivory compared to pangolin scales, and stronger-smelling obfuscation items could potentially lower the sensitivity of the dogs to the wildlife parts. Our study highlights the potential of dogs to detect hidden wildlife parts, but their effectiveness may depend on other aspects such as training, personality, the health of the dog, the type of wildlife substance, and the obfuscation item used. Given the variability of our findings, WDD programs need to invest in research to optimize the number and type of dogs with the right balance of traits to successfully detect wildlife parts that could potentially be obfuscated during smuggling. Wiley 2023 Article PeerReviewed Sai Sanggkeeth, Narayanasamy and Chong, Erin and Sheema, Abdul Aziz and Visscher, Wesley and Syed Zafarullah, Abdul Jaafar and Gopalasamy, Reuben Clements * (2023) Hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts? Conversation Science and Practice, 5 (3). ISSN 2578-4854 https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12886 10.1111/csp2.12886
institution Sunway University
building Sunway Campus Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Sunway University
content_source Sunway Institutional Repository
url_provider http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/
topic SF Animal culture
spellingShingle SF Animal culture
Sai Sanggkeeth, Narayanasamy
Chong, Erin
Sheema, Abdul Aziz
Visscher, Wesley
Syed Zafarullah, Abdul Jaafar
Gopalasamy, Reuben Clements *
Hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts?
description Wildlife detection dog (WDD) programs are increasingly being developed to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. However, there is little scientific research available on how sniffer dogs perform when wildlife parts are hidden during the smuggling process, which hampers the effectiveness of WDD programs. Here, we investigate the ability of WDDs to detect wildlife parts that are hidden in legally traded goods. We employed a smell test using the two most smuggled wildlife parts worldwide: elephant ivory and pangolin scales, in combination with two obfuscation items of plant and animal origin commonly employed by smugglers. We then established the sensitivity of the dogs to the target substances. Our results showed that there was a large variation between the two dogs in their sensitivity to ivory and pangolin scales. However, both dogs were generally less sensitive to ivory compared to pangolin scales, and stronger-smelling obfuscation items could potentially lower the sensitivity of the dogs to the wildlife parts. Our study highlights the potential of dogs to detect hidden wildlife parts, but their effectiveness may depend on other aspects such as training, personality, the health of the dog, the type of wildlife substance, and the obfuscation item used. Given the variability of our findings, WDD programs need to invest in research to optimize the number and type of dogs with the right balance of traits to successfully detect wildlife parts that could potentially be obfuscated during smuggling.
format Article
author Sai Sanggkeeth, Narayanasamy
Chong, Erin
Sheema, Abdul Aziz
Visscher, Wesley
Syed Zafarullah, Abdul Jaafar
Gopalasamy, Reuben Clements *
author_facet Sai Sanggkeeth, Narayanasamy
Chong, Erin
Sheema, Abdul Aziz
Visscher, Wesley
Syed Zafarullah, Abdul Jaafar
Gopalasamy, Reuben Clements *
author_sort Sai Sanggkeeth, Narayanasamy
title Hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts?
title_short Hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts?
title_full Hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts?
title_fullStr Hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts?
title_full_unstemmed Hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts?
title_sort hide-and-sniff: can anti-trafficking dogs detect obfuscated wildlife parts?
publisher Wiley
publishDate 2023
url http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/2739/
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12886
_version_ 1804069665441316864
score 13.211869

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