70 Soldiers Search for Rescue Dog Wilson in the Amazon

Wilson, the 2-year-old Belgian shepherd that helped find four children lost in the Amazon for 40 days, is himself now lost in the rainforest. The Columbian army is desperately searching for the national hero, last seen one month ago.

On May 1, a Cessna 206 flying seven people between Amazonas and Guaviare provinces went down in a crash that killed the three adults aboard. The four children, siblings aged 13, 9, 4, and an 11-month-old baby, survived to walk away. Incredibly, they survived in the rainforest for over five weeks. Among the rescue party was Wilson, whose pawprints led the army to the children, but the very good dog went missing himself.

“The children spoke to us, and confirmed that the dog was with them for two or three days,” Gen. Pedro Sanchez, who led the rescue effort, told Colombia’s W radio.

Now the army has 70 soldiers scouring the rainforest in search of the shepherd, who had only just graduated in February from his training school. They’ve placed food for the dog in several locations near the crash site, and they’ve put out some of Wilson’s handler's clothes, in hopes the familiar scent would lure him in. The army even helicoptered in two female dogs in heat, in hopes of that enticing scent doing the trick. So far, no luck.

“He is very energetic, and always stood out because of his strength, his energy and his strong temperament,” Elvis Porras, a trainer who helped to raise Wilson, told ABC News. “He is a distant relative of wolves, so I hope his instinct to hunt will help him to survive.”

Photo credit: Colombian Army / AFP