Kuru in a nutshell
I’ve just returned from an incredible trip to the States, where I was met with so much love and support for Kuru. It’s landed me home with even more zeal for our mission, buoyed up by the many kind folk who truly believe in the work we’re doing - and ready to hit the ground running.
One thing I got asked a lot was - how does it all work? I learned that people want to be able to tell their friends about Kuru’s conservation dogs, so I put together this cheat sheet - and, hopefully, a compelling case for supporting us.
It all starts with…
The Kuru Dog School
This is the heart - the hub, the nerve centre, the mothership. It’s where our kennels are, where we do all of our training, and the base from which we provide logistics and support for the dog teams that are out in the field.
I often compare it to a garage: if you have a fleet of trucks, there’s a base they run from, and it’s where they come back to for maintenance and repair. If dogs are sick, or need retraining, they come back home to the dog school where we get them back in ship-shape so they can do the best work possible.
From here, we deploy dog teams to…
Ports, airports and borders
Global crime syndicates smuggle illegal wildlife products out of Africa and to international markets. Our detection dogs sniff bags, cargo, shipping containers and vehicles to intercept contraband like ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales, bushmeat… our presence at these trafficking hotspots is a disruptor: knowing nothing makes it past our dogs means it’s not worth it for smugglers to use this channel for their ill-gotten goods any more.
Case Study | Mozambique
It can feel like whack-a-mole: as soon as you bring the hammer down on one spot, the problem pops up in another. In Mozambique though, we have detection teams at no fewer than four of Mozambique’s international airports, and tracking/de-snaring teams in two of their national parks too. This just makes poaching and trafficking way more work than it’s worth: knowing they or their products will be found out skews the cost-benefit analysis less favourably, and they either move elsewhere, or find another line of work.
Of course, the greater our footprint - or pawprint rather - the narrower the gap we leave for criminals to exploit. We’ve got teams at two of Tanzania’s international airports, and one of Uganda’s - and we hope to expand to more.
2. Ranger support
We deploy dog teams in wildlife areas so that they can sniff out poachers, and also detect snares. Snares, often made of thin wire, are nooses that tighten around the animal they trap, keeping them in place until the poacher can return. This results in deaths and injuries too cruel to describe; elephants with severed trunks are but one example.
Case Study | Serengeti
Poachers will disguise their snares in foliage, so if you can imagine trying to look for hidden strands of wire in thousands of acres of grassland - it’s a needle-in-a-haystack scenario. Luckily, our dogs can smell them.
Because the wire carries the scent of the poacher that laid them, our teams can pull up kilometres of snares in a day, all while tracking the perpetrator down - sometimes right to his home.
Dog teams stationed in Serengeti, in collaboration with Tanzania National Parks, save the lives of countless animals every day by sniffing out snares.
3. Mobile canine unit
This is an exciting Kuru innovation and we’re waiting for the right partner to pioneer it with - essentially, it’s the ultimate support package to wildlife authorities who need immediate help tackling poaching.
We’ve designed small, semi-mobile tracking dog units that can be deployed at a moment’s notice, with the agility to step into any wilderness area where rangers need some anti-poaching assistance.
Each unit will consist of two tracking dogs, two vehicles, mobile kennels, tentage, and equipment for three handlers, drivers, and game scouts. These self-contained teams will be ready for immediate action, and can operate autonomously in the remotest of areas for 2-3 months before rotating with another team.
4. Consulting and support
We’ve got decades of dog experience to draw from, and because we’ve found a way that really works - we want to share it with the world. I firmly believe that ego has no place in this fight to protect what we love, and I will always make myself available to troubleshoot, train, brainstorm, and generally do whatever we can to support initiatives that are trying to turn the tide on wildlife crime.
Why we’re donor-funded
Some people ask why we raise funds for Kuru instead of charging top-dollar for our services. The reason: we never want our offering to be unaffordable. The governments and wildlife authorities we serve are doing the best they can; they want and need our help - but a hefty price tag would put us out of reach.
So, our aim is to raise enough to run the Kuru Dog School, and let our partners can chip in what they can for the services we provide. When you’re in it for the outcome and not the bottom line, a little really does go a long way.
Our match campaign
Now is an even better time than usual to support our work. A generous donor has agreed to match any amount we raise up to $50,000 - which would make a massive difference to us. We’d love it if you could share far and wide, and help us make the most of this incredible opportunity.
I try to keep these letters to just a few times a year, but our social media channels are an excellent way to keep track of what we’re up to so check them out and follow along:
As always, thank you so much for your support.
Will and the Kuru team