A Kaziranga National Park official said on Friday that “K9 Karina,” a particularly trained sniffer dog recognized for her involvement in anti-poaching and anti-crime operations, had passed away from age-related health issues. She worked as a German Shepherd in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve for ten years with her handlers, Jitu Gogoi and Manas Bora. According to the official, in addition to patrolling, the canine was trained to locate poachers, sniff out wildlife components during wildlife crime investigations, and had helped solve numerous poaching cases.
Her noteworthy achievements include assisting the forest patrol team in locating a shelter used by rhino poachers at Burapahar Range in 2018, catching a suspect in a 2016 human murder, and assisting the team in recovering a 0.303 rifle in Karbi Anglong in 2023. On this year’s Republic Day, K9 Karina joined the other sniffer dogs from the Park in a dog parade in Bagori Range. After undergoing extensive surgery in December of last year, the dog recovered nicely. She passed away on Thursday night after being ill once more a few days earlier from old age issues. Park employees paid their final respects to the dog during the final ceremonies held at the headquarters of the 2nd Battalion of the Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF).