Canine

The setup at Chuilexi base is impressive and the Conservancy Manager, Wim, has achieved a great deal in the seven years since he and his wife Chelene arrived and camped along the Lugenda River until the first vestiges of infrastructure had been put in place.

His camp organisation is unparalleled, and our visiting donor was hugely impressed at the operation. From here, conservation work happens over 6,500 square kilometres of remote bushland. Whilst it’s often easy in this sector to feel that one is simply farting in the face of innumerable threats, days like this provide cheer. There are good projects that are doing a lot to safeguard wildlife despite the challenges, and which importantly are showing results.

In the afternoon we went to observe the canine unit do some training exercises. This is comprised of two German shepherds and their scout handlers, which are used to track scents when illegal activities are discovered and to deter would-be poachers. Many Mozambicans are frightened of dogs as they haven’t grown up creating bonds with animals, especially in agricultural regions such as this. Wim has had to select carefully the scouts to occupy this team, especially as certain training exercises consist of scouts behaving as poachers and the dogs biting into a padded sleeve that plays the role of a poacher’s arm. Today we observed a nominated scout acting as a bush ne’erdowell, leaving his scent as he walked to hide in dense vegetation. Another scout confused the trail by zigzagging his scent across the path. A handler then controlled the dog as it traced the first scout to his hiding place. The dog always succeeded efficiently, panting furiously from the excitement of the whole endeavour and chewing on a colourful rope as a prize.

As I lie in bed I can hear hippos grunting. Around camp there are various trails used by these beasts to reach their nighttime grazing areas.