Zingela Catches a Tiger!

 

Conraad de Rosner, the owner and trainer of five-year-old Zingela the Weimaraner who was instrumental in finding Panjo when he was lost en route to the vet, had no doubt that Zingela would get the job done.

 

“Zingela is trained to find all kinds of wildlife” said Conraad. “All he needs is the scent, and if the animal is there, he will find him.”

 

Conraad works at Sabi Sands Game Reserve/Wildtuin, where he manages the canine unit. Specially trained dogs are used at Sabi and other game reserves to find injured animals and also in anti-poaching operations. A dog like Zingela is a crucial part of the team.

We asked Conraad a few questions about his very special dog.

 

How have you trained Zingela for this specialized work?
Since he was a young puppy he has been introduced to working in the bush and with wild animals. When I first got him I worked at Bongani Mountain Lodge which is a game reserve on the south-western border of the Kruger National Park. It was mountainous terrain and I spent a lot of time walking alone in the bush. It was important for me to have a companion and also protection. A Weimaraner was for me the ideal dog.

 

What makes a Weimaraner so ideally suited to your work?
They are excellent scent dogs, and are bred to track animals. They handle heat well, their colour is excellent camouflage in the terrain and bush, and a Weimaraner will always defend his handler. I have trained Zingela to track specific species, so if I tell him to track a lion, he will do so. He has worked within a big game environment his whole life.

 

How does he work?
He is trained to track any animal by ground or air scenting. I work with Zingela on a harness with a five metre lead. He walks ahead of me and is like an early warning system – if he spots something or knows there is an animal in the bush, he will ‘point’ and bark to indicate to me that there is something to investigate.

 

Does he ever attempt to catch wildlife?
Since he was a young puppy he has been introduced to working in the bush and with wild animals. When I first got him I worked at Bongani Mountain Lodge which is a game reserve on the south-western border of the Kruger National Park. It was mountainous terrain and I spent a lot of time walking alone in the bush. It was important for me to have a companion and also protection. A Weimaraner was for me the ideal dog.

 

Have you trained other dogs as well?
I grew up on farms in Mpumalanga and Zululand – we always had dogs with which we patrolled our farms and which tracked animals.

 

How did you become involved in the search for Panjo?
We work with a company called Canine Security Solutions, which was contacted by the SAPS Canine Unit looking for a dog which tracks predators. They recommended Zingela.

 

How did you plan the search?
I left Sabi Sands around midday and got to the search area just before dark. Zingela picked up the scent from inside the bakkie from which Panjo escaped, and I also had some samples of Panjo’s droppings in a plastic bag which I kept with me to ‘remind’ Zingela while we searched. We took him to the tracks that had been found and I instructed him to track bhubezi – Lion.

 

How long did it take Zingela to find Panjo?
By then it was pitch dark but we still found him in less than an hour. Zingela scented Panjo all over the area – he tracked around the nearby black wattle plantation picking up urine markings and scent everywhere. We returned to the bakkie to start the next section of the area and suddenly Zingela started barking wildly. We looked towards the wattles and saw just one eye…moved a little closer and saw two eyes – then saw him.

Unfortunately searchers and press ran towards the area and the tiger moved further back. We had to start searching again but at least we now knew where he was. The owner was able to approach him and draw him out with a large piece of meat.

 

This was a great result to an experience which could have had a different ending!
It has to be said that I am unhappy that an animal like Panjo was transported in such unsuitable circumstances – a wild animal like a tiger should have been far better cared for on a road trip. He could easily have been badly injured during his escape from the vehicle, aside from the potential danger to people and animals. I am very glad that Zingela and I were able to find Panjo unscathed.

 

Hill’s Pet Nutrition wanted to reward Zingela when they heard how he had tracked Panjo the missing Tiger. His owner, Conrad de Rosner, was delighted to hear that Zingela will receive six months supply of Hill’s Science Plan Performance, the premium food for working dogs.