The attack was frenzied. Dogs barked and snarled, their handlers shouting orders, urging them on. With canine jaws clamped on to each of his sleeves, a man was brought down to the ground and incapacitated.
If this had been a real-life scenario, that would have been job done for the dogs. But it was just a training exercise, known as The Bite Walk. The “poacher”, protected by a padded suit, was actually William Habimana, deputy head of the canine unit at Akagera National Park. ‘Because I'm trained and I can defend myself with the suit, it's okay,’ Habimana said, catching his breath after his mauling. ‘But for a poacher who's not wearing this suit, it would be very painful.’
The dogs and rangers form a specialist canine unit that patrols Akagera in eastern Rwanda. I watched as the dogs were given a run through their exercises, leaping and climbing over obstacles, obeying their handlers’ commands. Dogs are trained here from three-month-old puppies for more than two years to get them ready for tracking in the field. ‘Having the dogs gives a lot
