Incredible moment sniffer dog makes rare discovery in Aussie bush
Wildlife experts have trained three specialised dogs to detect some of Australia's rarest animals, which they say will be a 'game-changer' for protecting the species.
This is the incredible moment a sniffer dog made a rare discovery in the Aussie bush.
Wildlife experts have trained 3 specialised dogs to detect some of Australia's rarest animals, which they say will be a game changer for protecting the species.
The 3 dogs, Daisy, Sugar and Kip, were selected for a month-long programme that taught them to sense the critically endangered Victorian grassland eless dragon.
For decades, scientists feared the Tiny lizard species was extinct as they hadn't been seen since the 1960s.
But in 2023, it was accidentally rediscovered by ecologists who were surveying private farmland that was earmarked for development.
Dragons spend much of their time out of sight, hidden inside wolf spider holes, but the dogs are able to detect them with their specialised sense of smell that's up to 100,000 times more acute than a human's.
Specialist trainer Doctor Nick Rutter said, When Daisy and I found our first dragon, it was absolutely incredible.
She alerted to a little hole in the ground, and I quickly got out my endoscope and put a little camera down in the hole.
And there was this tiny, adorable little dragon face staring back at me.
The dragon detection is helping researchers collate data about population density and helping them locate animals to add to Zoos Victoria's captive breeding programme.
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