The list of endangered animals and plants around the world is getting longer and longer. In order to stop the species decline, however, there is often a lack of more precise information on the stocks of the species. Specially trained species detection dogs can be an important help here, as researchers report. Accordingly, the species you are looking for can often be found faster and more effectively with the four-legged friends than with other methods.
How many otters are there still in Germany? Which habitats do the threatened crested newts use on land? And do urban hedgehogs have to struggle with different problems than their conspecifics in the provinces? Those who want to protect the species in question effectively should be able to answer such questions. But that is by no means easy. Because many animals lead a secret life in secret, even their legacies are sometimes difficult to discover. Often nobody knows exactly whether and at what rate their stocks are shrinking or where the last refuges of the survivors are.
Remote sensing with aerial and satellite images can help to map open landscapes or to detect larger animals. In densely vegetated areas and smaller, hidden species, however, researchers have so far mostly looked for traces themselves or worked with cameras or, for example, hair traps. But these methods are often not enough.
Are sniffer dogs suitable for species protection?
For this reason, scientists working with Annegret Grimm-Seyfarth from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research have devoted themselves to another method. “We urgently need to know more about these species,” says Grimm-Seyfarth. “But to do this, we first have to find them.” A modern technique for this is to find and analyze tiny traces of DNA from, for example, excrement, hair or plant roots. This can be used, for example, to find out which animal they come from, how it is related to other conspecifics and what it ate.
Specially trained sniffer dogs are increasingly being used to search for these tiny traces of endangered species. Because, unlike humans, dogs have up to 300 million olfactory receptors with which they can perceive even the smallest traces of smell. So you can find not only the excrement of animals in the forest without any problems, but also plants, mushrooms and animals underground. The four-legged helpers have already proven themselves in several research projects.
“In order to be able to better assess their potential, we wanted to know what experiences there are with species detection dogs around the world,” explains Grimm-Seyfarth. That is why she and her colleagues have now evaluated more than 1200 publications that document the use of such search dogs in more than 60 countries. “We were particularly interested in which dog breeds were used, which species they were supposed to track down and how well they did,” says the researcher.
Even sniffed out plants, bacteria and fungi
The result: In many of the studies examined, good experiences were actually made with the sniffer dogs. In almost 90 percent of the cases, the dogs even worked significantly more effectively than other detection methods. Compared to camera traps, for example, they discovered four to five times more black bears, fishing marten and bobcats. In addition, they often achieve their goal particularly quickly. “You can find a single plant on a soccer field in no time,” reports Grimm-Seyfarth.
According to the studies, the longest experiences with the four-legged investigators are in New Zealand, where dogs were looking for endangered birds as early as 1890. Since then, the sniffers have also been used in many other regions, especially in North America and Europe. In doing so, they should find more than 400 animal species, their homes and traces in the analyzed studies. Mammals from the families of cats, dogs, bears and martens were most frequently sought, but also birds, reptiles and insects. In addition, there were over 40 types of plants, around 30 types of fungi and six types of bacteria. It is not always an endangered species. Occasionally the dogs sniffed out pests such as bark beetles or invasive plants such as knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) and ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia).
In principle all breeds are suitable
“In principle, all dog breeds can be trained for such tasks,” explains Grimm-Seyfarth. Pointing dogs such as pointers and setters have even been specially bred to find and display game, but not to hunt it. This is why these breeds are widely used in research and conservation projects in North America, Great Britain and Scandinavia, for example, to track down ground-breeding birds such as snow grouse and capercaillie. But retrievers and herding dogs are also usually very good helpers in the search for species, because they are very willing to learn and easy to motivate, enjoy working with people and usually do not have a pronounced hunting instinct. Therefore, Labrador Retrievers, Border Collies and German Shepherds are among the most popular research aids worldwide. Border Collies, for example, can already learn as puppies to track down the inconspicuous solution of otters and later also look for crested newts at the same time.
Regardless of the dog breed, the four-legged friends must be prepared accordingly for their missions, emphasizes Grimm-Seyfarth. “In most of the cases in which the dogs did not do so well, it was due to inadequate training,” explains the researcher. “In addition to the dogs’ age and experience, their biological, psychological and social characteristics, as well as handling and housing, likely play a role in their performance,” the researchers said.
Lots of potential
In addition to the choice of dog, the area of application is also decisive. Because sniffer dogs are not suitable in all terrains and habitats, as the study results show. For example, rhinos leave their large piles of poop clearly visible on paths so that humans can easily find them. And animal species that wild dogs know as enemies usually flee from the four-legged investigators, so that even in such research, detection dogs are usually dispensed with. Nevertheless, Grimm-Seyfarth and her team see many possible uses for detection dogs in species protection beyond such cases.
“If you choose the right dog, know enough about the target species and design the study accordingly, it can be an excellent detection method,” concludes Grimm-Seyfarth. She and her team therefore want to continue using the sniffers in the future and have them search for invasive plant species, for example.
Source: Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, Article: Methods in Ecology and Evolution, doi: 10.1111 / 2041-210X.13560