K9 dog squad hero 'Zorba' with over 60 records passes away

GUWAHATI: Aaranyak, a prominent biodiversity conservation organization, mourned the passing away of its first k9 unit member, Zorba.

Zorba, the Belgian Malinois, was immensely instrumental in hunting down poachers in Assam. Due to age and health issues, he passed away on Monday night. Acclaimed rhino conservation and wildlife crime expert, Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, the CEO of Aaranyak, expressed his deep sorrow over the loss of this K9 hero. "Our K9 squad, including Zorba, helped forest officials locate poachers' exit routes following rhino poaching incidents, resulting in arrests of the culprits by police and forest officials. Zorba's contribution during his lifetime will always be remembered and we will always regard him as a conservation hero," he said.

This Belgian Malinois dog, Zorba was the first such dog deployed in the country to track down poachers. With an 8-year career covering several rhino protection areas in Assam like Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, and Orang National Park, Zorba was actively engaged in anti-poaching operations.

Zorba's first handler, Anil Kumar Das, said, "I have immensely rich memories with Zorba and he has always been an inspiration to me."

The K9 dog-squad of Aaranyak, comprising six Belgian Malinois dogs along with its handlers, has been actively assisting forest and police officials in Kaziranga and Manas National Park as well as other rhino-bearing areas in Assam resulting in arrest of many poachers by law enforcement agencies.

In eight years, Zorba helped wildlife officials track down more than 60 poachers in the State and was ferociously involved in anti-poaching operations. After being relieved from duty in December 2019, Zorba was in intensive care in Aaranyak's K9 unit centre.

The K9 unit of Aaranyak has been running with generous support received from UK-based organization, the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation since 2011 and NABU-Germany since 2017, stated a press release.

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