Vynne, C., Skalski, J. R., Machado, R. B., Groom, M. J., Jacomo, A. T.A., Marinho-Filho, J., Ramos Neto, M. B., Pomilla, C., Silveira, L., Smith, H., and Wasser, S. K. 2010. Effectiveness of Scat-Detection Dogs in Determining Species Presence in a Tropical Savanna Landscape. Society for Conservation Biology. Doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01581.x. (1)
Available at:
http://conservationbiology.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2010ConBio_Vynne-et-al.pdf
Website where paper was found, and where information on dogs was found. (2)
Accessed Feb. 28th, 2013.
http://conservationbiology.net/research-programs/brazilmammals/
Just when I thought dogs couldn't get any better or be any cooler... dogs can be trained to help in conservation efforts! Dogs at the University Of Washington in Seattle WA, have been trained to detect scat of many different animal species in Emas National Park; a small protected area in the Brazillian Cerrado biome (1). Most of these trained dogs are rescue dogs from many shelters. The reason why these dogs are in shelters is due to the fact that they have high-energy personalities which can make it hard for them to be maintained as a family pet (2). Dogs that got excited to fetch a tennis ball were selected from the shelters (1) and trained to be scat-detection dogs.
In the study by Vynne et al. 2010, researchers looked into five large mammals that have been effected by habitat loss and are now considered endangered with the possibility of extinction (1). The five mammals include, the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), jaguar (Panthera onca), puma (Puma concolor), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), and the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus). The quadrat sizes used in the study were 3X3km and 5X5km. Each species was detected (by scat recognition by the dogs) more often in the 5X5km quadrats except for the giant armadillo (1). Maned wolves were detected 69/70 quadrats, jaguars in 11/70, pumas in 21/70, giant armadillos 20/63, and giant anteaters were detected in 57/63 quadrats (1). Scat samples were collected once a dog located it. The samples were then DNA tested to make sure the right species were being identified, to determine how healthy the animal is, what it's eating, and its population density (1). These five mammals were also found outside the park during each year of data collection, which means they have active home ranges established outside the park (1). Outside the park range is land owned by local people, so developing a conservation incentive may help to maintain these areas where these mammals are living.
Now back to these amazing dogs! How are they trained? How are they so efficient? These dogs were sent to Pack-leader Dog Training camps in Gig Harbour, Washington, and were then trained at the University of Washington Conservation Canine facilities (1). Scat from captive animals and wild-collected samples were used to train the dogs. Multiple scats from the same species were used, which allowed the dogs to generalize detection of any samples from that species (regardless of sex or reproductive status). Once a dog located a sample it would sit beside it and wait for a reward. To ensure the dog's efficiency species determination is done early in the season in order to catch incorrect scat identification so the dogs can be retrained (1).
Not only can these dogs detect the presence or absence of specific species, the scat they detect can be used to estimate abundance of certain species and their responses to habitat disturbances (1), which can overall help with conservation efforts for these endangered creatures.
These amazing dogs just keep getting cooler and cooler! They are also able to detect whale scat in the ocean!!
Figure 1a. Tucker looks for whale scat - © Fred Fellman
http://conservationbiology.net/research-programs/killer-whales/
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