In a scene reminiscent of the popular 1980s TV action series Airwolf, a Sea, Air and Mountain (SEAM) Special Operations Ranger and his dog jumped out of a descending helicopter and give chase after three suspected abalone poachers.
The video posted on South African National Parks (SANParks) – Table Mountain National Park’s (TMNP) Facebook page on Sunday 19 December last year, shows how members of the SEAM team, an elite group of Ranger recruits trained for the strategic purpose of countering the poaching and criminal threats, apprehend three poachers during an anti-poaching operation that morning in the Cape of Good Hope section of TMNP.
The arrest came just over two weeks after the passing-out parade held for the team at the Newlands Fire Base on Friday 3 December last year. Charged with tightening up safety and security at TMNP, the 18-strong SEAM team includes a re-established K9 Unit with six trained dogs.
In an interview last week, People’s Post tracked down a few of the team’s dog handlers to find out a little bit more about them and their canine colleagues.
*Collin is the Special Operations Ranger who jumped from the chopper.
“It was my first time on a chopper. It was my job to comfort my dog, then we went into the chopper and we made the arrest after that.”
Colin describes the arrest as adrenaline-filled.
“When we were close to their camp, they started running. We hovered low over them so they couldn’t run off. When it was time for me to jump out, it came to me that work is work, and work needs to be done,” he says.
The Ranger adds that he was paired with the most energetic dog which means he needs to be fast and fit to keep up with his partner. “Every morning, we have to do fitness training for close to an hour. Running, stretches, pull-ups; mostly focused on body-weight exercises,” he says.
But it is not only the humans who have to keep their skills sharp. The team of six dual-function dogs (made up of two breeds: Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherds) are trained in detection and attack. They are also put through their paces regularly.
*Ninette explains there are three different aspects to the dogs’ ongoing training: detection, tracking and apprehension.
“You will hide the contraband, mainly abalone, in different locations and the dogs will smell it out. We can expand on this, for example, teach the dogs to detect rock lobster,” says Ninette.
*Janet shares they rely heavily on the dogs’ senses when it comes to confirming whether a crime has been committed.
“They can detect other sorts of things, like weapons or gunpowder. They can sniff weapons on a person or in a vehicle,” she says.
Part of the SEAM team’s focus is area integrity management in the entire park for the safety of visitors. Janet says since the launch of the team in early December, there have been a number of joint operations with the police. She says they are specifically looking at high-intensity leisure zones where crime on visitors to the park is prevalent. Patrols are done around the time of the day when people are vulnerable.
“We have ongoing relationships that we have to maintain with law enforcement on grassroots level. We need the support so that our response is improved so that we can reduce the number of repeat offenders,” says Janet.
Among these relationships that need maintaining is the bond that exists between the dog handlers and their dogs. According to Ninette, the first two weeks of the training were focused on building that relationship.
“We started with walking them every day, grooming them, cleaning out their kennels, washing out their food bowls, until they felt comfortable with us. As we went on, we progressed with actual training.”
She says it is important to know that they are not just canines but rather staff members, and like any other member of the team, it is important to understand their personalities, how they work.
“You need to learn to understand your dog’s signals. Even though there is general training, each dog reacts differently. You need to understand how your dog reacts to a threat,” says Ninette.
Janet says it is this difference in personalities which requires them to discourage visitors from touching the dogs.
“There have been incidents of a child wanting to pet the dogs or people who love the breed, but we will thank them for their positive vibes but inform them no petting is allowed. Every dog is different. Some only prefer to be touched by their handler.”
, The dog handlers’ names have been changed to protect their identity as they perform a risky task.
