The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has deployed canine units at the Busia and Malaba border posts to strengthen efforts to detect and stop the illegal trafficking of wildlife and wildlife products.
The sniffer dogs are being used alongside scanners, X-ray machines and other security measures as authorities intensify inspections of trucks, buses and other vehicles entering Uganda through the two border points.
Abdallatif Mwanja, the head of UWA’s Canine Unit Department, said the deployment is intended to make it more difficult for traffickers to conceal and transport illegal wildlife products across the borders.
“We have personnel all over who are helping, working in conjunction with the other security agencies to curb illegal wildlife trafficking,” Mr Mwanja said.
He said the canine teams inspect vehicles arriving at the border to detect wildlife products that may have been hidden inside trucks and buses.
“We have all the security agencies alert to the task. We enhance, we have the scanners, we have the dogs, the X-ray,” he said.
Mr Mwanja said combining canine teams with technology and other security measures would strengthen surveillance and make it increasingly difficult for traffickers to use Uganda’s border points to move illegal wildlife products.
“When we beef up that, we make life very difficult for people who would want to traffic wildlife products through the borders, or else they completely even stop,” he said.
UWA officials said wildlife traffickers often seek to exploit border points to move wildlife and wildlife products between countries.
The deployment at Busia and Malaba is therefore aimed at closing potential gaps in border security and improving the detection of concealed wildlife products.
The increased security checks have also attracted attention from residents and business people operating around the border areas.
The heightened activity has generated interest among some members of the local community as authorities step up surveillance at the two busy entry points.
The canine deployment forms part of wider efforts by UWA and other security agencies to strengthen controls at Uganda’s borders and curb the illegal movement of wildlife and wildlife products.
Authorities say improved detection at entry points remains important in protecting Uganda’s wildlife resources and disrupting trafficking networks.