Colonel Gustavo Narváez Orozco, commander of Colombia’s 1st Special Forces Regiment, reported on the recent sighting of the dog Wilson, lost while searching for four missing children in the Colombian Amazon.
In an interview with local newspaper Semana, Gustavo says Wilson first got lost on May 18 after the military ordered him to go into the jungle and look for the children. He was seen again two days later, but fled after his guide tried to get close to him.
“It was very strange because this dog is trained to go deep into the jungle and always come back to the owner,” says the colonel. Wilson’s last performance was 19 days later on June 6th. The dog’s reaction to the encounter with the military was also strange.
“Those who saw him said he was a little thin. They tried to offer food, to play with him, to approach him. As soon as he saw us, he ran away. That was the last time we had contact with Wilson.”
What happened to the dog Wilson?
According to Colonel Gustavo Orozco, Wilson has more than a year of experience in operations like this and is trained to work in the jungle. Still, the adverse conditions of the Amazon rainforest can affect the rescue dog’s behavior.
“Why doesn’t he go back to his guide? It may happen that in the jungle there are animals such as alligators, jaguars, panthers and anacondas. Any of these animals could have intimidated Wilson, scared him, and changed his behavior.”
Wilson Dog Search
The four indigenous children were found on June 9 after being missing for 40 days in the Colombian Amazon. They were on a plane with their mother and two other people that crashed on May 1 and did not survive. The dog Wilson was instrumental in finding the children.
After the four brothers were located, the Colombian army launched Operation Hope to locate Wilson. According to Colonel Gustavo Orozco, 100 men, more than 20 indigenous people and three dogs are working tirelessly to find the rescue dog.
“We have courage and hope that he survived. He’s trained to eat his croquettes, but his instincts can kick in in certain situations. It may have been able to feed on prey it could hunt. We have an unbroken faith and an unbroken hope.”
The search for Wilson is also mobilizing netizens, who have created a petition calling on Colombian President Gustavo Petro not to leave Wilson in the Amazon jungle. The petition already has more than 50,000 signatures Property change.org.
Drawings, hashtags, and even artificial intelligence images are being used by netizens around the world to help find Wilson. Learn more.