you're watching d.w. news coming up next a documentary about a vet training dogs to fight poaching in the congo make sure to stay tuned for that i remember you can find all the latest news around the clock on our web site that's d.w. dot com for me and everybody in the newsroom here in berlin thanks for choosing the dalai. lama. and i'm just on the brand new delusions on the gulf coast that's posted to voice of the topics that affects us all the flu shot climate change in the return of. only 3 friends check it out.

every 2 months monday night saina travels around 6000 kilometers from her native switzerland to the democratic republic of congo in this politically unstable country she can only move around under the protection of the armed rangers. marlena is an internationally source after specialist in man trailing which means she trains dogs specifically to track people down. a service are required in particular in the northeast of congo in the national park where ruthless brutal poaching is in danger and the animal population.

the park director wants to combat the poaching and asked marlena who is a vet for her help 80 years ago since then she's been in charge of developing a special sniffer dog unit for this purpose. of the cold i didn't know anything about congo only as much as the next person i just knew that it was somewhere in the middle of africa and there was a conflict there when i got there 1st email and phone call i thought i'm not sending any dogs down there is specially not my favorite breed to get off. that it actually for me but the director of the virunga national park explained to me what he wanted and i gradually got involved we brought our 1st dogs to congo in february 20th levon called.

the lever on the national park is a unesco world heritage site it's the oldest park in africa and at 8090 square kilometers is the size of the greek island of crete but different altitudes of the park allow enormous biodiversity and a wide range of habitats. a large number of endangered species live in the national park but it's mountain gorillas are the best known worldwide there are only around 1000 gorillas left and 600 of them live here. go once had the highest density of wildlife in africa today 95 percent. scent of

the animals have disappeared tusks and horns are traded for billions on the asian black markets. the street price is higher than that of gold. poaching is on the rise and tourists no longer count. i thank. him just i knew for days to fill one of the 1st questions i asked the director of the park when he called was what will they do as i say my idea was that africans are not used to women being figures of authority. but i soon noticed that i had no problems right from the beginning. i could cry they call me mama which not only means mother but is a mark of respect when i tell them to do something they do it for anything as i get most of the similar to the. other one.

discusses the training plan with christian the leader of the congo hound unit. where yes bobby's not cooperating as usual he's resistant. but. once. you know i think that. was just a minute wait. he doesn't want to go in. if he does he's already been inside but if you leave the door open and white and don't do anything then it won't work much. careful ask a quiet. know what. i. bloodhound soon get used to their training territory always takes her talk unit from a roman garbo the administrative center to new places in the park that bloodhounds

need to be able to find their way in all kinds of surroundings. that we. will. likely. that we feel a sense of the breed we have here the bloodhound is new for us. the 1st time i saw these dogs i was afraid of them i didn't like the hero. not even our ancestors kept dogs and then when i saw these bloodhounds with their long years and huge noses i thought they were really bizarre. to. me just. from the very 1st day as soon as the dogs arrived i started working with

it i got used to them after a while. then i changed my career from being a gamekeeper to a dog handler. there are actually $0.02 after the other motivation means trying the hand then they're off on a longer trial. so. the ok really will be you. know if. we there are 8 of us handlers in a dog unit. each of us has his own dog i'm dodi's had her i'm really happy and proud of her because she's such a good worker for. me and we start

with the search game you put something on the ground for them we call it a same title typically a t. shirt or a jacket then the person runs away and the dog runs after them then all. apart go right that's right yes good dog. get him up from that at some point the bloodhound realizes that it's fun that he'll get a snack or praise at the end and he also realizes that the item of clothing. front of him belongs to the person who's looking for you can build on this in training. yes yes well done david. i. was.

jumpy i shako a retired psychometrist from ban heard about the anti poaching project from alena. you can see it. to support her endeavors he decided to create a comic book all about the brave woman and her blood hounds. as anyone in. going to go in. by i'm john p.r. jackal i'm looking for a radio titan or a yes it's here. yeah great hi pleased to meet you. wish what ok you can start recording.

it's only had you thought you know can use a radio tie in to that you know. we're a radio station specialized in nature conservation here in goma what is the reason for your visit. and the reason for my visit is to talk about my comic book about conservation here in congo in particular about protecting the border national park . and so it's a comic book especially for children. why did you create this book. i want to use this comic to show what natural treasures you have here in your country and that they are in danger like nature all over the world with you. it's important to me that i can make a difference with this comic i want to shake people up and make children aware of it i thought to myself i have the time and maybe the opportunity to contribute something to the beautiful nature you have here.

as a human there's nothing like this here in congo there are lots of fact books but nothing for children there is no distributor and congo there is no alternative but for me to carry all the books down here in my luggage or as cargo at the moment i'm bringing them in my luggage as many as possible. then i bring the books into schools and talk to the teachers about the best way of handling the books how to use that. me but i'm sorry i'm late. yes you're very late the head teacher has been expecting this since 9 o'clock you're 6 or 7 minutes late it's no big deal.

what. i. look at this children. it's. going to be. what you see on the page. akira. animals bravo thank you what kind of animals. don't shout out i can see you all i see you. move. yes they are wild animals thank you. even though who is threatening the park. you have to know this if we're going to fight this

threat. yes there are poachers. by these poachers good people. should the poachers be protected. who are so you must know there are park rangers to protect us and there are specially trained sniffer dogs they can follow the scent of an animal which has been killed over 200 kilometers away with. almost. they there. was. no you don't the folks at the village population sees the dogs with a mixture of great curiosity and fear in the beginning they shouted simba swahili for a line. about

how the bloodhound has been bred for following old difficult and long trials for over a 1000 years the animal has been selected to do this work called man trailing now 3 . of all dogs the bloodhound has one of the best developed senses of smell it is capable of sniffing the scent of a certain person and following it weeks later over distances of many kilometers. a bloodhound can even smell percent of the person who fired

a bullet from this cartridge casing dropped carelessly to the ground after being heated top 1000 degrees when fire. during their training the dogs become accustomed to increasingly difficult situations noise different types of ground and trails of differing ages the animal is capable of working successfully in villages where there are countless smells. but. come here show us. to clearly identify the person sought the don't get stopped on its back legs is then rewarded.

they all hope your 1st time i came here the ranges didn't even know how to take a dog for a walk i was able to choose some good people but they had no training and no experience of working with dogs or how to look after them i had to start from scratch i also had to learn how to get my message across to trying them that i let the congo's fail to. look trying to do it as if you were a dog. the training takes about 2 years during which the doc and the handler build up a relationship of trust they can only work successfully as

a team. go right or left left to be this way right would be here exactly. yes. let me ask you did a good job there come on leyla for you and after she sniffed did say search. very good can someone take that cat. oh yeah. bloodhounds don't simply accept orders they are never totally obedient humans have to learn the dog's language and how to interpret the dog's behavior correctly lead her then leave her lead her leave her and now give her time. in difficult situations the handler has to be able to recognize whether the dog is following the trail of the right person. the blood pool bloodhounds can get along with the climate almost anywhere the problem here of course is the whole infrastructure

there's hardly anything in congo there are no shops no department stores not in east congo so i have to import everything we have here in the congo hound unit for the rangers and the dogs in suitcases from switzerland. or i don't have the chance to transport them with a container or anything from hong kong i normally travel to congo with 4 to 6 suitcases or 23 kilos and travel back with just 1 may be at about 12 kilos. we did sell coffee live there for 12 kill. the same with cora. yes it's the same problem so we'll keep on with the bedpan tain it's hope or was this a lot. of 12 hours for the from the beginning one of the

biggest problems was veterinary care we have to do most of it ourselves. so i've trained my ranges like veterinary assistance they can do general examinations they can give injections or infusions and. they can also perform blood tests especially for blood parasites. we have a microscope here and they're very good at using it probably better than me because they do it more often with bob watching you based off he is basically 14. was. ok at least he is 4.5 kilos. oh no that's because of your hand. that is that. ok. so i mean it's something at the moment for example our dogs are pretty thin thinner than they should be.

if you had that we feed them natural food that means beef and rice or potatoes or vegetables oil and a mixture of vitamins and minerals and all of me think it's good if a dog doesn't have to work and when he's not growing. but unfortunately we've noticed that our 1st puppy bonus has developed a growth deficiencies of the court that we tried to find some ready mix food but doesn't exist in congo so now we're importing food from kenya so the dogs are not hungry they get big portions 2 to 3 times a day but for growing dogs or working dogs it's not enough. i. think.

my. fever on the national park is in the middle of a region which has been afflicted by armed conflict for 30 years. 600 armed rangers including the dog handlers risk their lives on a daily basis to guarantee the protection of the park they are recruited from the surrounding villages and undertake strict military training. i. mean i swore an oath to save wild animals and to protect nature. that's my job and i'm willing to die for it to sacrifice my life to the protection of these

animals them or even depend on my feet under since i'm. pretty near for protecting nature is the 1st priority the family come 2nd. to do. i. i. think i escaped death once but my friend was killed in 2003. the fact that.

i. was are you ready yes it was. everything we protected is of great value for the population. for example. sometimes people take firewood for cooking from the park. if they want to make coal and sell it or will. that is absolutely forbidden as much as poaching. the poachers are often armed and if you try to stop them it gets dangerous and liberal because if they see you 1st they will kill you when the premier.

to the side. has arrived in rome on gabo he's presenting his book in the school that christians children attend. but that it was. let's get started. sit down. and they say but i think your teacher are giving me the chance to come and present my book to you. we said you are the future of this country and i thought i would make a comic for you with

a story to show you the value of your country's. god i know what it's a little one but here is the story. this is the hero here in the middle. saying his name is louis you separate your wheat and down here do you know what that is with obvious casus are. fish right christiane and my lenz dog. to stop so many animals from being poached so correct is i'm good with that if you know when john pierre was here the 1st time that he came to see us and asked me a lot of questions and now when you look at the book i'm even in it as christiane and the rangers of the dog unit are in it too and of course the other rangers fixer . in this but they've got lipinski. are stuck i just have one question have any of you ever been confronted with poaching and i.

wonder if. it's going. to seem how can you stick a gun what if the poacher is someone in your family what do you do then. people know about the criminal goings on in the park but they turn a blind eye to it often it's family members who are in some way involved in the poaching sometimes out of necessity to scrape together a living. then there is commercial perching which is a different story in a spectacular campaign christian help to rescue a kidnapped baby gorilla poachers want to sell it on the black market where sums about to $40000.00 run off. the animal has since been living in the only mountain gorilla orphanage in the world in the same way center in the peron the national park it was named after christian young mounting prisoners whose parents were the victim of poaching can find a new home here. ok

ok we have to go to.

build a coaching is most common place in the savannah areas in the center where there are elephants and big mammals from there we want to be on location quick. if something happens to me and i've been asked now i'll update stephen you get so involved stop seemed. a little bit more of take care yeah thank you. intent on football in the middle of the park there are more diseases out there a c.c. flies which can carry sleeping sickness and that's why i want to kennel area with all round protection with mosquito net so that the dogs can also be outside at dusk

without being in danger you'll util 6 after that. yes that's much better. to me it's one of my obligations to pursue this project to. leap. leap. because i was lucky enough to go to libya my 1st year i said back then i'd like to take the dogs to the savannah and from the beginning i was blown away for me it's like paradise it's a place i love to return to it has an amazing 5 and the animals are so quiet and

trusting because they've been protected by ranges for years so that out at night you hear hyenas lions leopards for me it's my absolute dream place that was a few musicians you know plot the pal boy. come come that's good keep calm. until a thing has got to be to me also been active for about a year when the war broke out again in congo it was the m $23.00 a tootsie group from rwanda which rebelled against the army and the front ran right in front of our headquarters very dramatic and of course very loud it was a war after all

a lot of the villages were injured i helped to treat them. he thought although i'm a vet medicine is such a big part of me that everything else is secondary when my help is needed. but i wasn't afraid i just did my job. cause all money fall out of me out of the commode. from an important clue we have a park under great threat it's the place the war the rebels but it's also a place with many natural resources which is what causes all the problems if you ask me it's very important to me that we try to save something that if southeast texas with us was at stake. economy i can't save the whole planet at once but it matters to me that i make my contribution so at least a small part of this planet can recover. in

switzerland molinar runs farmers' place inclined getting in a training center for dogs and horses christian informs her daily via social media about what is happening in congo. can also uses the time for fundraising for the congo hound unit she is responsible for most of the funding. has been meat i grew up with dogs the 1st dog i can remember was a boxer after that we had to dax songs. then i watched this lassie serious and in

one of the episodes there was a bloodhound called samantha for this samantha had a real character knew exactly what she wanted it was independent but also stab and . so that really impressed me and i wouldn't stop pestering my mother until we had our 1st blood hound a bitch called car godall. madmen mounted marlin invited me to switzerland to do more training as a dog handler and it's nothing like congo nobody can arrest you and the police don't bother people. no. it was just. hello welcome to our seminar here in test scene. for 5 yards 5 years ago i took on the training of all the rangers in congo and soon

had the idea that it would be good for them to experience how other handlers work with their dogs but in congo they're the only ones there's no comparison that's why i started inviting ranges here in the autumn we go to training seminars but we also give presentations for what are called i was. like. oh yeah our. body that was like. that which we welcome to our presentation on the congo project the congo how project as we call it 9 and. going on to be a week away from something very long and. i get down to just one thought was how will they handle it when they come here from congo one of the poorest countries in the

world on it. they see how we live here and how well we live but they also notice that we pay 5 francs 50 for a coffee they can live on that for a week. or. 200 but they really like their own country they have their families and friends there and you can learn to move between these 2 cultures so it's really very positive if. iraq. great. reporting between key key but. yes commander. i think.

it's a real emergency. mission that we get the dogs in the car let's go the ranges have to be prepared to be called in and over times they need to be physically fit but mental strength can also be crucial for their survival do it better than thanks. lou in the 2018 alone 12 rangers were killed in the fight against poachers a total of $175.00 young men and women have died protecting the park in the last 10 years. to learn to cope with this pressure they regularly train on the real conditions. this is delta 6 come in. roger come again ok we're on our way

to mission confirmed 6 roger over. 3 tourist a bit to the right of where watch. you know people did the right the other side.

you know if i can say anything. it was only as clear. so it leaves a bit of work and look for evidence why sure i'll fix a dog fight. thank . you stupid and the folks you didn't have a. few . friends. you tube. amp but the fact that.

i took that to be up to. a. few. feet is a. very. mean .

stop now stop. look down there i will move ahead. there's someone there stop stop or i'll shoot. yeah yeah yeah yeah well they're good they're good you're. going up both of you. but. the news that the docs can trace all criminals has spread thanks to manners tyler's

work with her dog squad and the general tightening of security in the park poaching has decreased considerably of elephants 2 by about 30 percent the population of the mountain gorillas is even risen by a. theme for them the final goal of this whole project is certainly to get my people so independent that they don't need me anymore it's their country it's their park and they have to be able to do the job themselves so they're not there yet they still need my advice to my support but they're making huge progress. for. nothing that will end even if marlin stopped coming here to the forum going to tional park i will always need

her advice. because she is i could say she's like my foster mother she trains me the right way super she is a very kind mama. they jumped in one. group were to go. in a. moment. and then they're going to look there are mountain gorillas just 10 meters away. from. the book. that look a baby a tiny one so close to its mother. saw how cute wow. for

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