These "conservation canines" help sniff out endangered species to save them. A heartwarming example of animals helping protect other animals. Love seeing the great work of @WD4C featured in @washingtonpost. https://t.co/Y6ckPjGfNV
— JG Collomb🐾 (@WildlifeJG) September 14, 2023
Of course not every dog is fit or focused enough, but this sounds like the canine equivalent of ‘grow up to be a paleontologist who is *also* a firefighter’.
From the Washington Post, “Once-abandoned dogs are now trained to sniff out environmental clues” [Unpaywalled gift link]:
The dogs were stranded on the streets or sitting in shelters, dropped off by owners who couldn’t handle the pups’ strong will and frenetic energy. Their temperaments were too volatile.
One of them, Tigee, was seized by animal control for being too aggressive. The 7-year-old shepherd mix spent several weeks in isolation in a four-foot kennel in Virginia.
But Tigee was smart and had an intense attachment to his toys, so he was a perfect fit to be a “conservation canine” — a dog trained to sniff out endangered species or other important environmental clues.
In 2017, Tigee was rescued by Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C), a conservation detection dog organization based in Turah, Mont. Tigee now lives in Zambia, where he uses his strong drive — and big black snout — to collect data in South Luangwa National Park and protect the region’s wildlife, including pangolins, a scaly-skinned mammal that is a threatened species.
After a successful session collecting data, he is rewarded with toys and treats…
Tobias, a 9-year-old Labrador retriever, was found wandering around alone in Helena, Mont., in 2016.
He had a hyper personality, a trait Coppolillo said often makes dogs unappealing as family pets. Instead, he was taken in by WD4C and now spends his days sniffing out invasive zebra and quagga mussels in Montana’s Glacier National Park. After a search, he also gets a toy and treats.
Respite Open Thread: <em>Get Paid To Sniff for Poop!… </em>*Post + Comments (28)