Australia has recently been struck by a spate of bushfires that has ravaged not only human homes but also the habitats of animals. Thousands of koalas have been feared lost to the flames and smoke, and many more may perish due to habitat loss and injuries incurred from the fires.
It has been reported that many local koala populations have also been decimated and Australian wildlife organisations are desperately searching for koalas trapped in the smouldering forests.
However, not all of these rescuers are humans, but rather man’s best friend who has decided to chip in by doing his part.
Bear, a Border Collie-cross-Koolie, is playing an important role by using his acute sense of smell and his boundless energy to track down koalas who may still be in the areas affected by the bushfires.
Koalas that survived the flames and smoke can live for weeks afterwards, but are extremely vulnerable and weakened due to their loss of home and food sources.
Part of a team at the Detection Dogs for Conservation Centre at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Bear has been deployed to the states of Queensland and New South Wales to search for survivors.
He, like his other canine colleagues, have been trained to find live koalas through picking up the scent of their fur.
According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (IFAW) website, “A dog’s sense of smell is up to 10,000 times stronger than that of humans”.
“We train formerly-sheltered, highly-active dogs – who may otherwise never be adopted – to sniff out koala scat and fur.”
The dogs are also important for researchers to conduct conservation assessments.
Bear has obsessive compulsive disorder and was abandoned many years ago by his former owners because of it.
His neurotic nature and boundless energy may have made him unsuitable for pet life, but perfected him as a search dog.
The six-year-old has since found a purpose and is now working hard to find koalas who may have survived the bushfires.
With his distinctive pairs of red stockings, he wanders about with his handler Riana through the ashes of what used to be forests and uses his nose to guide them to possible koala locations.
“Bear is highly focused and brilliant at focusing on one thing – his ball which is his reward, which makes him perfectly suited for the job,” an IFAW representative said.
“He also has zero prey drive which is essential for a wildlife detection dog as they need to focus purely on the scent and not the animal, ultimately ignoring the animal.”
Recently, while part of an online programme where celebrities were asked to read aloud positive tweets, actor Toms Hanks read a tweet about Bear and was delighted.
Hanks said, “This is a Disney movie that must be made – the story of Bear, the koala detection dog. That’s adorable.”