Teno and Jama are the stars of the presentation ceremony at the Casa del Ganadero de La Laguna of the Canine Unit of the insular Area of Management of the Natural Environment and Security. From now on they will intervene in the island’s protected areas to detect any substance that could endanger the life of wildlife. These animals will help others to survive the sometimes dangerous hand of man.
The new Canine Unit of the Cabildo will identify poisons in protected natural spaces to prevent the possible death of animals. The Belgian shepherds Teno and Jama will now help environmental agents to prevent this type of accident – or not – that has its origin in the hand of man.
The President of the Cabildo, Pedro Martínindicates in the presentation of this new resource at the Casa del Ganadero (La Laguna) that its implementation involves «attending to the serious problem of animals killed by ingesting toxic products, whose presence in the island territory can negatively affect other species”.
The two Belgian Malinois shepherds will be in charge, with the help of the Cabildo’s Environmental Agents, of identifying poisons deposited in the territory, specifically in protected natural areas, as well as corpses of animals killed by the ingestion of toxins. In this way, a recurring problem that affects wildlife by being contaminated by these products and affected, in many cases, to the point of death, will be solved.
Pedro Martín is accompanied at the opening ceremony by the Minister of Natural Environment and Security Management, Isabel García, and by the Gesplan delegate, Agoney Piñero.
The president assures that “there is a very important field in the work in the natural environment, and that is how the agents of the Environment have let us know; it is about identifying animals that appear dead in natural spaces due to ingestion of poisons ». In this regard, he indicates that with the start-up of the Canine Unit “We want to help protect wildlife from a problem little known to the general population, which is the proliferation of this type of product in the territory.”
help conservation
Pedro Martín assures that “the activation of this Canine Unit will help the conservation of wild species of Tenerife». Among them, some as important as the crows, the guinchos or the owls, in addition to many others. The aim is also to encourage prevention and proper use of toxic products in the natural environment.
For her part, Isabel García referred to recent studies carried out through the Health Surveillance Network of the Government of the Canary Islands. Their conclusions suggest that most of the species of wild birds treated at La Tahonilla, the Wildlife Recovery Center of the Cabildo de Tenerife, had traces of toxic substances in their bodies, such as the usual poisons for rats and mice and pesticides. Many of them are in “high and real” danger of extinction.
Counselor García regretted the presence of specimens of endangered species killed by toxic substances already prohibited.
The two dogs that are members of this recently launched Canine Unit, Teno and Jama, carried out, together with their guide, a demonstration based on the location of a bird corpse. During it, the protocol for the execution of the identification and collection carried out by the Environmental Agents was carried out. A rehearsal of what will soon be a reality in the mountains of the Island of Tenerife.
