Written answer by Ministry of National Development on effectiveness of the use of sniffer dogs to detect wildlife and wildlife products trafficking at border checkpoints

Apr 2, 2024

Question No: 5682

Question by: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

To ask the Minister for National Development whether he can provide an update on (i) the effectiveness of the use of sniffer dogs to detect wildlife and wildlife products trafficking at border checkpoints and (ii) the number of illegal shipments of wildlife and wildlife products which the sniffer dogs have detected thus far.

Answer:

In 2021, NParks set up a K9 Unit at Singapore’s border checkpoints to detect illegally traded wildlife and wildlife products. Since then, the sniffer dogs and their handlers have aided in the detection of illegal shipments of wildlife and wildlife products. For example, in 2022, they played an important role in detecting 34kg of smuggled rhinoceros horns, our largest seizure of rhinoceros horns to date.