Even though, the use of poisoned baits has been strictly prohibited since 1993, who could imagine that Kiko in Thrace and his brother Kuki in central Greece (Hellenic Ornithological Society ) -the first anti-poison dog unit- would be so busy when they first came from Spain through a LIFE programme about the protection of the Egyptian vulture.

Every year, poisoned baits spread death without exceptions but Kiko and his handler have always been ready to break the circle of poisoning as soon as possible. 

All these years, the main purpose of the anti-poison dog unit was to reduce the possibility of poisoning of the three species of vulture (the Egyptian vulture, the Cinereous vulture and the Griffon vulture) which are important elements of the natural heritage of Thrace “cleaning” the country side from poisoned baits or dead poisoned animals that could cause further poisonings. From the beginning, the motto was: The more areas that are cleaned up, the more animals, wild and domestic, will be saved!"

During this decade, Kiko has always been professional and foul of energy conquering the mountainous territory of Evros and Rodopi, fulfilling 210 patrols, covering more than 1500 kilometers of these places. A total of 54 cases of poisoning incidents were investigated in which 108 dead animals and 110 poisoned baits were found. We can rightly call him a hero of the Thracian countryside, as he has prevented the certain death of many animals, such as rare birds of prey, mammals, but also working dogs (shepherds and hounds).  

Kiko’s job was really exhausting and many times turned out to be very dangerous for him since poisoned baits contained extremely toxic sustains that are forbidden in Greece.

Kiko and his brother were so effective in their job that many other similar dog units were established in many territories in Greece. Nowadays there are 12 anti-poison dog units. The Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace inherited the anti- poison unit from WWF in order to keep offering her valuable services at the country side of Thrace and got even bigger when Kiko got a new partner named Dalton!  

The year 2023 was the last one that Kiko offered his services to the unit. His last two operations were with his partner Dalton, investigating two cases of poisoning and they unfortunately found rare raptorial species dead.

You can see the report of the anti-poison dog unit work in Thrace for 2023, here.