CONSERVATION
Wildlife’s new best friend Zoos Victoria’s latest recruit, Moss the ‘unicorn dog’ is learning life-saving lessons to help protect endangered species.
WORDS Madeleine
L
De Gabriele
IMAGES Rick
Hammond
ike most 18-month-old Labradors, Moss is a hurricane of energy. Unlike most, however, he will use that energy to help save some of Victoria’s most critically endangered species. Moss is the first recruit to Healesville Sanctuary’s Detection Dog squad. This squad, which will eventually include five fully trained dogs, will be deployed across Victoria to help sniff out highly elusive animals, helping Zoos Victoria and its conservation partners monitor crucial populations in the fight against extinction. “It took a long time to find Moss, the perfect first recruit to our Detection Dog squad,” explains Naomi Hodgens, Wildlife Detection Dog Officer and one of Moss’ trainers. “Detection dogs need to have a very special and rare personality, which is why we call them ‘unicorn dogs’. They have to have a lot of energy, be very motivated to work with people and want to solve puzzles. At the same time, they can’t be at all interested in other animals. He needs to stay focused on us even with distractions.” It took months of searching to find Moss, and more than a dozen in-person visits to different rescue dogs looking for a forever home. Moss
was living with a foster family on a farm, as his tireless energy made him unsuitable to be a family pet. “When we saw him on the farm, totally ignoring free-range chickens, that was a really good sign,” says Naomi. “Right away he was more interested in looking at us. He loves to engage with people, so we make all his training a big game. Now he has a job and new challenges every day, he’s absolutely thriving.” Moss is still in training, but soon he’ll be working towards detecting endangered species such as the Baw Baw Frog and the Plainswanderer – both critically endangered, and extremely difficult to find in the wild. The tiny Baw Baw Frogs burrow underground, sometimes as deep as one metre into the mud. Until now, the only reliable way to find them was by listening for the mating calls of the males, which can take four years to mature (sometimes longer). Using dogs means scientists can locate female and juvenile frogs and frogs recently reintroduced to the wild, says Threatened Species Biologist Deon Gilbert. “We need to be able to tell if captive frogs released into the wild are surviving in their new homes.” It’s not just searching through alpine regions
ZVMAG 16
Right Moss is the newest recruit to the Detection Dog squad.
