OUR Team
Vianna Von Weyhausen
Vianna, the Founder and Director of Canines for Africa, was born in Zimbabwe. When not in the field with her units, she is currently based in the U.S., where she is a Visiting Scholar at Texas A&M University.
A life-long conservationist and philanthropist, Vianna has a variety of wildlife experience, including fieldwork, fundraising, advising, management and start-ups. She is a founder member of Peace Parks Club and of WildInvest, and has been involved in various capacities with Tusk Trust, Support for Africa, the Sahara Conservation Fund, AfriCat, The Red Cross, and Bonobo Conservation Initiative.
Vianna is a currently a Visiting Scholar at the department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at Texas A&M University. In conjunction with the University, she is creating a pioneering genetic research project for jaguar conservation, using her K9 protocols, in Yukatán Province, Mexico
Vianna is a 2023 recipient of the EC50 award from the Explorers Club.
"Fifty people changing the world, that the world needs to know about"
Canines for Africa is fortunate to work in collaboration with Canine Conservation, which trains both our dogs and rangers. K9 Conservation is one of the oldest and most elite organisations in the conservation K9 service industry.
Conraad Geza De RosneR
Director, K9 Conservation
A South African, our Chief of Operations and head trainer Conraad has twenty-six years bush experience under his belt. Starting his career as a game ranger in Zululand, Conraad became a police reservist in the Special Protected Species Unit, and has specialised for the last seventeen years in training and working with canine units in the counter-poaching arena.
Conraad leads a formidable team, all members of which have extensive experience working with K9 counter-poaching units and have wide first-hand knowledge of the unique situations facing rangers in the field. He is also committed to providing the highest possible level of training to his students, both human and canine.
Anke Kruger
K9 Conservation
Growing up in a political and farming family in South Africa's Highveld, Anke adopted at a very early age the determined stance for principles of justice for wildlife that now guide her life.
Anke became South Africa's youngest armed female field ranger in 2017 and is also a qualified field guide and a wildlife conservationist. When not assisting Conraad in training our units, she is following her main passion - being on the operational forefront against wildlife criminals.
Anke and Conraad's passion for wildlife developed into a passion for each other, and they are now married. A perfect union.
Dog units
Based at a K9 Conservation training centre outside Hoedspruit, South Africa, we breed many of our own high quality puppies. In our repertoire we have:
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German, Dutch and Belgian Shepherds and their crosses for our tactical anti-poaching dogs (trained to track human, firearm and ammunition scent, and to apprehend armed poachers). Also used as fence patrol dogs.
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Weimaraner as our detection dogs, trained to find live animals (wounded or orphaned, such as a rhino missing after its mother has been poached), dead animals (carcasses and bush meat), contraband (ivory, pangolin scales, rhino horn etc., and snares) and humans (e.g. poacher incursion and excursion on a boundary fence). Our Weimeraner also have apprehension capabilities. Furthermore we use them for scat detection in research and monitoring projects.
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Bloodhounds for cold-sent man tracking
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Spaniels where small dogs are required to detect wildlife contraband, arms, drugs etc.
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Blue Tick / Foxhound crosses, used either in a pack for tracking active poachers, or individually for tracking humans or animals
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Bloodhound / Doberman crosses (“DBs”) combine excellent tracking skills with apprehension abilities
Click photo for details on each unit
