In the quiet countryside of Carmarthenshire, Wales, a litter of puppies is training for a mission that could change the fate of Africa’s endangered wildlife.
They may look like ordinary pups now, but soon they’ll grow into heroes, tracking poachers, protecting rhinos, and giving hope to entire ecosystems.
Based in Wales, Dogs4Wildlife was founded by professional dog trainers Darren Priddle and Jacqui Law, who decided to use their years of experience developing working dogs for police, security, and military operations in Europe and the U.S. to help stop poaching across southern Africa.
“The transition from spending every waking moment with that dog, having a very strong relationship, to then letting that go is challenging and difficult,” Law said. “But as much as it breaks my heart when they go, I know they’re going for the greater good.”
Each puppy begins training at just two days old, learning to recognize scents and build trust through early exposure to different sights, sounds, and surfaces. For about 18 months, they’re guided through obedience, tracking, and detection programs before being flown to wildlife reserves across Africa.
Once there, the dogs join anti-poaching units, where their tracking skills make a life-or-death difference. One of those dogs, Shinga, a Belgian Malinois, famously tracked a poacher’s 2.8-mile route home in Zimbabwe’s Imire Wildlife Reserve, leading rangers straight to his door.
Imire reserve manager Reilly Travers called the impact “massive,” saying, “They’ve saved our guys on the ground on several occasions and they’ve been responsible for apprehending quite a few poachers.”
In South Africa, where KwaZulu-Natal lost 307 rhinos to poaching in 2023, more than 60% of the country’s total losses, according to conservation charity Save the Rhino, the dogs’ work has never been more critical.
That’s why every partnership matters. “We have an exceptional bond with every single one of those dogs and we transfer that bond across to the (anti-poaching) rangers,” Law said. “That relationship will always be there.”
- A Message From the Sea: WWI Letters in a Bottle Reunite Families a Century Later - November 11, 2025
- Hospital Nurses Create Heartfelt Wedding So Dying Father Can Share His Son’s Big Day - November 11, 2025
- Kerala Vet Turns Heartbreak into Hope for Exotic Birds - November 11, 2025
