Taz and Nutmeg have been to more than 12 bushland areas throughout south-east Queensland.
ABC Radio Brisbane: Terri Begley
Many four-legged friends are just happy to run around and chase a ball, but two dogs in Queensland have a greater mission — to help keep the koala population safe.
Taz and Nutmeg are detection dogs who sniff out koala scat to help conduct a genetic survey in targeted bushland areas.
Trainer Olivia Woosnam said the dogs were always eager to start searching for the small, olive-sized droppings.
Koala detection dog Taz in action! @abcbrisbane @zonca @brisbanecityqld pic.twitter.com/qOMWrcY99h
— Terri Begley (@TerriReports) May 16, 2017
“Koalas produce 10 to 150 scat pellets a day so that’s the trail of evidence of where koalas are,” she said.
“Every now and then we do find koalas themselves too.
“The scats are then sent to Wild DNA in Victoria who do genetics analysis so we have the unique DNA profile of each koala in the area.”
A dozen areas have been searched in south-east Queensland in the past three weeks, Ms Woosnam said.
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KPDS (Koala Poo Detecting Spaniels) https://t.co/2IPCRao1e3
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) June 4, 2017
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