The company is better known for producing hi-tech weapons systems and defence solutions. But now it’s joining the war on the rhino poaching trade. “The formidable tracking skills of Denel’s trained dogs will now be used to sniff out rhino poachers in the Kruger National Park‚” the company said in a statement on Thursday.A recently signed agreement between Denel and SANParks will see the dogs deployed there for the next 18 months.Group CEO Riaz Saloojee said the “canine unit at Denel Mechem provides the most effective answer in the battle against poaching (as) the dogs and their handlers have‚ in the past‚ been used to great effect to detect explosives and hidden landmines in war zones across Africa and the Middle East”.They dogs have “scored successes to sniff out smuggled drugs‚ contraband and ivory at airports and border posts”‚ said Saloojee‚ but “our focus is now on the illicit poaching of rhinos”.The agreement will see Mechem supply trained dogs and train SANParks dog handlers‚ as well as provide “K9 support and specialized dog care programmes”.“Dog/handler combinations form formidable teams and we are quite confident that we can have a huge impact towards the effort of breaking the back of rhino horn smuggling operations in the Kruger Park‚” said Dr Hannes Slabbert‚ a senior manager at Mechem.Saloojee said the SANParks agreement “is a case of two state-owned companies pooling their resources and expertise to participate in a project that is of national and regional importance”...