Conservation Dogs

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Conservation dogs are making a difference in conservation through their noninvasive ability to detect elusive species in the wild, flag illegal wildlife trade products, and help poachers fight wildlife crime. Whether you work with conservation dogs, you're interested in incorporating them into your work, or you just want to learn about how dogs can support and enhance conservation technology's effectiveness, you're in the right place!

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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

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@jsevans
| He, Him

Senior biometrician, with the Nature Conservancy science team, attempting to bring vigor from diverse fields such as landscape ecology, spatial statistics, remote sensing and applied mathematics to answer practical conservation questions.

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@sarah_gluszek

Fauna & Flora

Senior Technical Specialist, Wildlife Trade

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@skatewing

Intertidal Agency

Data systems & policy solutions

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@cosmicspittle

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

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@Janawrocki

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@rkatz

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@marusuffern
| She/her

Passionate and curious about nature and its diversity, I seek to learn more about conservation, new technologies, and the unknown and infinite environmental world.

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@Daniel_Ferraz

Minas Gerais State University (UFMG)

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@Dsb

I'm a recent graduate with an applied degree in GIS and am looking to volunteer my time as a GIS tech or analyst. I love all things nature and watching the wildlife in our backyard. I have set up our webcam from time time trying to lure the wildlife for a good image.

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@phamming

Researcher at the Southern African Wildlife college with an interest in technologies supporting conservation management. Currently working with ESRI; SMART; EarthRanger and Tracking devices

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@Ruthmery

Peruvian biologist working on Andean bear conservation in the Peruvian Andes

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@Ng'weno

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Description	Activity	Groups	Updated
Online/in-person courses in detection dogs	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...	Conservation Dogs	3 years 8 months ago
Longevity of Scented Gauze	Please feel free to reach out if you have questions.	Conservation Dogs	3 years 8 months ago
Dogs & technology	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...	Conservation Dogs	3 years 8 months ago
Rescue dogs follow their noses to protect rare species	Forget the newest technology: One of the most powerful tools in conservation research is human’s best friend. Rogue Detection Teams...	Conservation Dogs	3 years 8 months ago
Great Crested Newt Detection Dog (video)	Professional, skilled, talented... team member Freya, a three-year-old Springer Spaniel carries out important work for us [Wessex Water...	Conservation Dogs	3 years 10 months ago
Training and usage of detection dogs to better understand bumble bee nesting habitat	With Murder Hornets being located on the west coast of the USA this research could offer some lessons learned: Three main...	Conservation Dogs	3 years 11 months ago
Crop Protection Dogs: Advice Requested	Dear Chavoux, thank you for your reply, you perfectly summarize the challenges of this project. I will add another one: dog care, community in Congo are not used to...	Conservation Dogs	3 years 11 months ago
Conservation Dogs’ Are Sniffing Out Species Humans Can’t See	At the seedling stage, invasive plants like Scotch broom are notoriously difficult for humans to spot. But dogs can locate hard-to-find...	Conservation Dogs	3 years 11 months ago
Wildlife Trafficking Detection Tools	Best Practices and Application to the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade - Includes an informative section on the use of dogs. "The following...	Conservation Dogs	4 years ago
The Detection Dog Methodology - Rogue Detection Dogs - Video	In this 40-minute video we: "Learn a little about what the conservation detection dog method is and how Rogue Detection Teams does it...	Conservation Dogs	4 years ago
How quoll-ified are northern and spotted-tailed quoll detection dogs?	I just have to say that this is an absolutely brilliant title...bravo to those authors! :)	Conservation Dogs	4 years 1 month ago
Scouring the Desert for a Seabird	"To find the elusive white-vented storm petrel, researchers spent years scouring the desolate Atacama Desert, using dogs to help sniff...	Conservation Dogs	4 years 1 month ago

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