Bear is a dog and his job is finding koalas.
The border collie/koolie mix with striking blue eyes works withDetection Dogs for Conservation, and has been specially-trained to sniff out displaced, sick, orphaned and injured koalas in the wild, according to theInternational Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), so he has been busy these past few days.
Bushfires are currently raging across Australia’s east coast, and they are burning right through prime koala habitat.Experts predict that hundreds of koalashave already died in the fires, but Bear is there for the ones that survived.
The hardworking canine was recently sent out to several scorched areas in Australia to helpQueensland Fire and Emergency Services – QFES,Queensland Koala Crusaders, andWildcare Australia Inc.find koalas that may have been injured in the fires and are now in desperate need of help.
IFAW
Fiona Clark Photography
“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. 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,” the statement continues.
Unlike many other koala detection dogs, which sniff of koala scat, Bear is trained to find live koalas, which makes him especially effective during natural disasters like fires, reports9News. In these situations, there are often isn’t fresh scat to sniff out, and even if there is, it doesn’t always lead to the koala who left it. Bear is able to detect and lead rescuers to living koalas, even if they are at the top of burnt trees.
source: people.com
