Kichu, alias Dingo, the sole member of the first dog squad of the Forest Department, has a well-defined role and routine. The sniffer and tracker dog is trained exclusively in ferreting out sandalwood logs.
The Labrador retriever was ‘recruited’ by the Forest Department in 2011 when it was two months old. Kichu was then trained for nine months by the Kerala Police Academy, Thrissur. G.P. Pradeepkumar and N.K. Balakrishnan, two beat forest officers, were trained in handling Kichu, whose two siblings are also in the dog squad of the Kerala Police.
Kichu now has a separate residence-cum-training centre at the Nachivayal range of the Marayur sandalwood division. “This is for the first time in the country that a Forest Department is using a dog squad to trace its stolen property,” said Marayur range officer M.G. Vinodkumar, adding that it is a major factor in reducing sandalwood theft in the division. Kichu’s service is being used in vehicle-checking too. “It sniffs out sandalwood hidden anywhere in a vehicle,” said Mr. Vinodkumar. “In a few cases, Kichu guided the flying squad to the vehicle and the sandalwood.”
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Its duty starts at 8 a.m. with physical training. Food — a mixture of rice, dog food, and fish — is given at 11 a.m. A two-hour rest follows. Then it is trained in tracing hidden sandalwood. Once the command is given, Kichu moves around till the wood is tracked.
Earlier, in the event of suspicion, the forest officials had to check the whole vehicle — a tedious process especially at night. The smugglers used to outsmart them by hiding the loot in cubicles. Not any more. “Now we just have to ensure that the vehicle has sandalwood. Kichu does the rest,” said Mr. Pradeepkumar.