Rangers in the Democratic Republic of

Congo's Virunga park have a new weapon in their fight against poachers.

National Park authorities have trained five bloodhound dogs to track elephant

poachers after a spate of incidents.

The first investigation using the dogs was carried out last week and led to

the discovery of illegal weapons.

Poaching is one of the key threats to the animals in Virunga, a Unesco World

Heritage Site in the war-torn eastern region of DR Congo.

The park is also home to gorillas, chimpanzees, okapi, forest elephants and

buffalo, among other wildlife. Some 300 rangers protect the park from poachers,

rebel groups and illegal miners.

'Effective weapon'

Park authorities now hope the bloodhound programme, which was implemented

with help from a specialised Swiss centre and volunteers from the German police,

will help to protect the vulnerable elephant population from ivory poachers.