16/08/2026
🐕🦺 After eight years on the frontline, K9 Leon retires from wildlife protection duty
🐾 After nearly eight years of tracking suspects, assisting anti-poaching operations and guarding some of Assam’s most precious wildlife, K9 Leon, an exceptionally sharp and agile Belgian Malinois, retired from active service on August 15, 2026.
Trained in scent tracking and anti-poaching operations, Leon spent much of his distinguished career protecting wildlife and supporting conservation efforts across Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve (KNP&TR). Working alongside his dedicated handlers, Anil Kumar Das and Mrigen Das, he became much more than a working dog — he emerged as a vigilant guardian of Kaziranga’s natural heritage.
Following an intensive 12-month specialised training programme, Leon joined active field duty in November 2018. Over the years, he undertook more than 200 patrols and participated in over 30 specialised tactical operations, working closely with frontline personnel of the Assam Forest Department and Assam Police.
Among the many operations that marked his remarkable career was a major tracking exercise during the devastating floods of late 2019. Displaying extraordinary endurance, Leon followed a suspect’s scent trail for nearly 20 kilometres across several forest camps and security checkpoints. His relentless tracking eventually helped identify and apprehend a rhino poacher.
In another significant operation at Bokakhat in 2023, following the discovery of a poached deer carcass, Leon led frontline forest personnel to crucial incriminating evidence and helped track down and apprehend four suspected poachers.
His abilities were not confined to wildlife crime investigations. In 2025, Leon assisted the Assam Police in a high-profile gold theft case in Golaghat town, demonstrating the versatility of his scent-tracking skills beyond forest boundaries. His intervention helped investigators identify and arrest four persons involved in the theft.
Through extreme weather, challenging riverine terrain and complex operational conditions, the super sniffer consistently displayed exceptional discipline, sharp instincts and unwavering loyalty. His contribution strengthened anti-poaching efforts and supported the protection of the endangered greater one-horned rhinoceros and other wildlife in the region.
K9 Leon has been supported by NABU International since 2017 as part of efforts to strengthen wildlife crime prevention and enforcement.
As Leon officially hangs up his boots after years on the conservation frontline, Aaranyak’s K9 Sniffer Dog Squad, the Assam Forest Department and Assam Police have expressed their deep gratitude for his courage, dedication and steadfast service.
For Aaranyak and the people who worked beside him through the years, Leon’s retirement marks the conclusion of an extraordinary chapter of service. The organisation has wished the four-legged conservation hero good health and a peaceful retirement, while assuring that he will continue to receive proper care throughout the rest of his life.
Leon may no longer be heading out on patrol, but the trails he followed, the cases he helped crack and the wildlife he helped protect leave behind a lasting legacy in Kaziranga and Assam’s conservation landscape.
MyGov Assam | Bibhab Talukdar
