In recent decades, the use of dogs in conservation work has exploded. Deployed to detect things like invasive or elusive species, scat, poachers, illegal wildlife trade products, and much more, conservation dog teams are trained to aid teams in the field. With benefits like speedier searches over large areas, proven targeted detection accuracy, and ease of transport and surveying, conservation dogs also offer possibilities for enhancing other technological methods by confirming or providing results in real-time.
Conservation dog teams now provide scat, reptile, aquatic species, whale scat, and invasive plant detection, and plenty more. This expansion of use is partly due to refined training techniques that offer a broader capability in very specialized detection roles, and partly due to more people seeing the capabilities and benefits of trained dogs.
Specifically, the utilization of dogs in conservation has experienced a considerable increase in recent years as people realize what the capability brings to the field survey arena. The benefits of dogs offering enhanced detection to support surveys includes:
- Speed of search
- Covering large areas effectively
- Proven detection capability
- Calibrated on a variety of species, if required
- Accuracy in the detection of targets and ignoring similar non-target specimens
- And easy to transport to survey sites.
Whether you train, handle, use, or are interested in finding out more about conservation dogs, this is the community for you! This group is growing, so if you'd like to get started and make connections here, here are some suggestions:
- Do you have advice to share with others who are interested in trying conservation dog work for the first time? Or do you need advice on whether conservation dogs suit your work?
- Do you have resources or research to share on training or using conservation dogs?
- Do you have a case study or project update that involves conservation dogs?
- Do you have a question about how to access conservation dogs for your own work?
Your group manager is Paul Bunker. Direct message him through WILDLABS or email him here with any questions or suggestions.
Header photo: Bill, photographed by Stephanie O'Donnell
- @YvanSG
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Clemson University
Seabird ecologist at Clemson University, South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Co-chair of Caribbean Seabird Working Group.
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Chiron K9
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Micaela Szykman Gunther is a Professor in the Department of Wildlife at Cal Poly Humboldt. She applies studies on animal behavior of (mostly) carnivores and (some) ungulates to inform management of wildlife species.
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This article discusses a project utilizing canines to detect the scat of a critically endangered mammal, the Saola.
10 December 2023
Published paper attached
14 November 2022
Article
Ceres Tag sends just in time alerts and GPS location to have the power to track and trace.
22 July 2022
Today we're talking to Paul Bunker, owner of Chiron K9, a canine consultancy company specializing in detection, author of the workbook Imprint Your Detection Dog in 15 Days, a resource aimed at providing tools to get...
7 May 2021
December 2023
event
November 2023
event
Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Hi Zach,Our organization (SEE Turtles) has a campaign working on the illegal tortoiseshell trade around the world called Too Rare To Wear. We are going to be updating our Global... |
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Community Base, Conservation Dogs, Early Career, East Africa Community, Ending Wildlife Trafficking Online, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Wildlife Crime | 4 months ago | |
These are great materials to refer to. I just have to wrap my amateur brain around the technological words but I should be fine. Thank you Harold. |
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Conservation Dogs, Women in Conservation Tech Programme (WiCT) | 1 year 1 month ago | |
"Preliminary results- Fecal samples are increasingly used in wildlife research to confirm species’ presence and to estimate population... |
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Conservation Dogs | 1 year 9 months ago | |
In this short presentation, Dr. Edgar Aviles-Rosa of the Canine Olfaction Lab at Texas Tech University joins Chiron K9's Principal,... |
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Conservation Dogs | 2 years 1 month ago | |
The UK's first Conservation Canine conference is now available for replay ticket purchase. Day 1 9:30 -... |
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Conservation Dogs | 2 years 1 month ago | |
thanks Pete, yes we're going to collect some from captive animals when they come out of hibernation. I'll keep in touch. |
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Conservation Dogs | 2 years 4 months ago | |
Thank you! I just replied via email. |
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Conservation Dogs | 2 years 4 months ago | |
With their boundless enthusiasm and amazing powers of smell, canines are playing a growing role in global efforts to protect wildlife. |
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Conservation Dogs | 2 years 4 months ago | |
This paper describes the training methodology used to investigate the ability of a scent detection dog to locate live riverine rabbits (... |
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Conservation Dogs | 2 years 6 months ago | |
This class is being offered again, here's the information: Online DATES: December 27, 2021 - January 21, 2022 EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS NOVEMBER 10, 2021... |
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Conservation Dogs | 2 years 7 months ago | |
Please feel free to reach out if you have questions. |
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Conservation Dogs | 2 years 7 months ago | |
Dogs, in simple terms are a tool just like any other technology you use. There are advantages and limitations just like any other technologies. I like to tell people they need to... |
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Conservation Dogs | 2 years 7 months ago |
Wildlife Trafficking Detection Tools
16 May 2021 10:51pm
Getting Started with Conservation Dogs: An Interview with Paul Bunker
7 May 2021 12:00am
The Detection Dog Methodology - Rogue Detection Dogs - Video
4 May 2021 12:57am
How quoll-ified are northern and spotted-tailed quoll detection dogs?
3 April 2021 4:27am
Scouring the Desert for a Seabird
12 April 2021 3:02am
Training methodology for canine scent detection of a critically endangered lagomorph: a conservation case study
6 April 2021 5:17pm
Video; Hunting for Hawkweed with detection dogs Research Thesis
26 March 2021 4:16pm
31 March 2021 5:41pm
This is great! I would love to learn more about how search area and transects affect detection. I look forward to reading her articles.
Detection dogs in nature conservation: A database on their world‐wide deployment with a review on breeds used and their performance compared to other methods
4 March 2021 8:56pm
18 March 2021 4:14pm
This is awesome!! Thanks for sharing. Reading about doggo's for "work" (and fun) is so lovely
A case study in canine detection of giant bullfrog scent
3 March 2021 3:43pm
"One of the ‘world’s worst’ invasive species"
2 March 2021 2:45pm
Benefits of incorporating a scat-detection dog into wildlife monitoring
1 March 2021 12:56am
Journal of Vertebrate Biology - Conservation Canine Papers
20 February 2021 9:53pm
New Group Manager - Introduction
16 January 2021 11:04pm
12 February 2021 7:17pm
Thank you for taking this on.
My particular interests are using local dogs trained by local people for scat detection (broadly defined), and how to evaluate and certify their performance. Local dog Toffee indicating on a training target;
12 February 2021 8:27pm
Thank you!
i know several organizations, including my own, that believe a valuable approach is local dogs and people supporting conservation in their own community is the best answer. Supported, where needed, by professional trainers/instructors to get them to a point they can be operational.
Great photo!
18 February 2021 12:12am
If and when you're ready to get a ton of attention (and maybe fundraise) for your conservation dog work send those pix to @dog_rates as I'm sure Matt would love to feature your pups.
Using a Wildlife Detector Dog for Locating Eastern Indigo Snakes
12 February 2021 2:26pm
Rogue Detection Dogs Webinar - Free
7 February 2021 5:25pm
Poison Detection Dogs for Wolf Conservation
3 February 2021 12:47pm
3 February 2021 5:51pm
I have seen posts on social media about poison detection dogs and I THINK I am connected to one of the teams. I will check.
Paul
Research paper: Training and olfactory generalization in conservation detection dogs for an endangered stonefly species
2 February 2021 4:20pm
Invitation to join the FIT community on WildLabs
13 May 2020 5:13pm
List of grant opportunities for conservation dogs
14 May 2018 9:48pm
31 August 2018 9:57pm
Two more resources that may be worth checking (USA):
- Working Dogs for Conservation https://wd4c.org/
- Conservation Canines - Center for Conservation Biology, University of Washington https://conservationcanines.org/
(Thanks to Kate Wing for the tips).
27 April 2019 5:22pm
Just learned about this community and am super excited to see it exists. I wanted to comment on Conservation Canines (CK9). I served as the coordinator for CK9 for 18 years. The majority of CK9, including myself and its 17 dogs, have broken off and are trying to get a new program set up called Rogue Detection Teams! We are just getting our paws under us but we are all super excited to be unleashed from the University and embarking on a grand new adventure. Rogue Detection Teams can be reached at [email protected] and also found on Facebook @roguedogs and IG and Twitter at @roguedetection. We have a website in the works at Roguedogs.org but it is not up just yet. Looking forward to being a part of the community. Dogspeed!
3 January 2020 7:17pm
Hi Yvan, My name is Jennifer Hartman and I work with Rogue Detection Teams, a program that works with and instructs conservation detection dog teams. Did you ever receive enough information to pursue your project? If not, one, we'd love to learn of more opportunities ourselves, as we have many conservation projects that we would like to support and are unable to. Additionally, we have recently learned about a group, Midwest Conservation Dogs who just received a grant to train a new dog. I think it was a local grant but we're sure that they would be more than hh=appy to discuss with you how they received their grant. Most of our projects that we conduct, and we have worked on storm petrel burrows in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, come from government funding or special program fudning (some past partners include The Nature Conservancy, World WIldlife Fund, various univeristies, etc.). We're happy to discuss how we might help to get your project off the ground, or if you have already conducted it, we'd love to learn how it went and how you were able to fund it. We can be reached at [email protected] or our website is at roguedogs.org. Warm regards in the New Year, Jennifer
Conservation dogs deployed in Assam to counter poaching
26 June 2017 3:33pm
27 June 2017 11:09am
Countryfile Working Animals Compilation - 04:48 conservation dogs sniffing our bats and newts.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08wysbf/countryfile-working-animals-compilation
27 June 2017 2:53pm
Awesome!
3 January 2020 7:13pm
Hi jprobert, my name is Jennifer Hartman and I work with Rogue Detection Teams. I wanted to share some other resources for you if you are still interested in learning more about conservatin detection dogs and thier applications. From live animals, invasive species as well as scat and toxin surveys, our teams have conducted a great many projects around the world and we're happy to talk shop with you. There are also several other detection dog groups around the world and if you would like to be put in touch with them, we're happy to assist. Please let us know if we can help. We can be reached at [email protected] or you can first check us out at roguedogs.org. Warm regards, Jennifer
Reptile Detector Dogs
8 August 2016 11:35am
14 May 2018 9:37pm
Hi Steph and all,
I don't work with detector dogs directly but colleagues of mine in the Pedernales province of the Dominican Republic have used a dog to locate iguana nests in a dry environment. Iguana nests (which are underground) can be found by looking for a typical hole in the ground; unfortunately, a local species of spider makes a very similar hole, which make iguana nest searches difficult (since you don't want to break the nest open) and time-consuming. Biologists at Grupo Jaragua, a Dominican environmental NGO, thus trained a dog to successfuly smell for iguana nests.
Their dog sadly died after eating poison intended to kill stray dogs but did find a number of iguana nests for several years.
- Yvan
Detection dogs used for border control
5 April 2018 12:51pm
26 April 2018 4:43pm
Hi Katrin,
We are working with Panthera in Kyrgyztan on wildlife trafficking at the border. I believe you may be in touch with the program? We have helped Border patrol layer on snow leopard, argali and saiga as well as falcons. I would be happy to put you in touch with Aimee Hurt, who has worked there with the teams. Or you can reach out to Tanya Rosen with Panthera to ask about that program. We are happy to help share experience.
Best, Megan
30 April 2018 10:32am
Hi Megan
That sounds great, thank you! I will message you.
Best
Katrin
Seminar: The power of non-invasive approaches to conservation science, Wednesday 1 November, 5pm (Cambridge)
23 October 2017 10:43am
Assessment of Detection and Tracking Dog Programs in Africa
5 April 2016 7:43pm
15 April 2016 5:45pm
Hi Rachel, the link seems to be broken, fyi.
Marie
18 April 2016 9:41am
Hi Marie,
Thanks for alerting us to a possible broken link. I've just double checked both links Rachel shared and they both appear to be working. Just in case, the links are:
Working Dogs for Conservation: http://wd4c.org/
Assessment of Detection and Tracking Dog Programs in Africa (PDF): http://files7.design-editor.com/90/9024931/UploadedFiles/520bd328-b718-423f-b041-da20b254e24a.pdf
24 April 2016 3:22am
Thanks!
14 April 2021 1:16pm
I just have to say that this is an absolutely brilliant title...bravo to those authors! :)