Koala-saving canine squad is seeking new recruit
Experts are on the hunt for a new dog to join their Queensland troop of Koala-saving pooches who can sniff out the marsupials in the bush. The canines help detect and protect sick and injured endangered koalas a skill that's especially important after bushfires.
Transcript
00:00 So I'm here on Brisbane's Bayside where the Sunshine Coast University and the International
00:06 Fund for Animal Welfare are looking for their fourth detection dog to join their troops.
00:11 Now these detection dogs are incredible.
00:13 They are looking for koalas.
00:15 This is Bear and he's actually able to find a live koala and track them down.
00:20 So Bear was deployed during the 2019 bushfire emergency and he found about 15 koalas and
00:26 was able to rescue them.
00:28 He's actually being deployed tomorrow back down to the Gold Coast where he'll also help
00:31 due to their recent bushfires.
00:33 So as I said, this is so important for bushfire emergencies but also every day because we
00:37 know that koalas are an endangered species.
00:40 Now Bear is one of four in this troop.
00:43 There are also others and they can look for the scat and the poo to help to find where
00:46 the koalas are in that area.
00:48 So they are looking for their fourth dog to join their troop.
00:52 They're looking for maybe a rescue dog or any dog that's excitable and loves to play
00:55 games or toys and would be a great addition to this team.
00:59 So as the head ecologist put it, humans see the world whereas dogs smell the world and
01:04 that's what makes them so good at looking for the endangered species, the koala.
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