Imagine this: Poachers have just shot an elephant. They’ve begun to saw off its tusks just as a helicopter takes off in the distance. On board is Arrow, a two-year-old Belgian Malinois, strapped to his handler, who’s wearing a parachute on his back. In minutes the pair float down near the crime scene so Arrow can chase down the poacher and stop him in his tracks.

Arrow has yet to carry out an actual takedown, but he and a six-year-old German shepherd, Giant, have jumped out of planes before. The idea is to get the dogs on the ground fast enough to sniff out and catch suspected poachers before they can vanish into the bush.

Arrow and Giant are among 200 enrollees