A dog is in the media spotlight after it has helped customs officers bust eight ivory smuggling cases since March at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the provincial capital of Guangdong.

Dingkai, a 3-year-old female dog, is the first dog to be trained to detect the odor of ivory, rhinoceros horns, pangolin scales and the products of other endangered species. The dog has been used by customs officers at major checkpoints on the mainland.

Zhang Naiwen, who is the dog's trainer, said Dingkai will sit behind a luggage when it smells the odor of endangered species.

"More than 90 percent of the luggage investigated after Dingkai made a detection have been found to contain ivory and products of other endangered species," Zhang said.

The dog, which weighs about 16 kilograms, has helped customs officers seize roughly 4 kilograms of smuggled ivory at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport after it was stationed there in early March, Zhang said.

Cases of smuggling products from endangered species are on the rise and the dog is expected to help deter would-be smugglers in Guangzhou, one of the major aviation hubs of the country.

According to statistics from Guangzhou Customs, customs officers across the southern metropolis seized 278 kilograms of ivory, rhinoceros horns, pangolin scales, crocodile meat and products of other endangered species after 24 smuggling cases of endangered species were busted in 2013.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn