Trained Dogs Are Saving Koalas During The Australia Wildfires

Jan 14, 2020 by apost team

Across Australia, animals are desperately trying to survive as bush fires ravage the area. Now, some highly-trained dogs are being put to the task of helping to rescue some of the wildlife – and these skilled canines are doing an amazing job rescuing indigenous animals.

TATE Animal Training Enterprises is a group located in Sydney that is working to train dogs so that they can hunt down and save koalas from the raging flames. Owner Ryan Tate went to ABC News so that he could talk about the fantastic job that the dogs are doing to help these desperate koalas.

Tate pointed out that one four-year-old dog named Taylor has gone above and beyond the call of duty by rescuing eight koalas since September.

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The dogs are detector animals, meaning that they track down the koalas using their scent. Taylor manages to locate the animals when they are up in trees because their scent drops down to the ground where she can smell it.

In conditions where the winds are high, Taylor has been trained to look for koala droppings so that their presence can be spotted. Once the droppings have been found, experts scan the location to find the animal.

During their training process, dogs are taught to respond to the simple command, “Koala, find!" Once they are put to work, they are given the same command.

Steve Austin is a trainer who works with the dogs and explains that their work is vitally important to the survival of the koalas. Right now, koalas are on the verge of being extinct, and these dogs maybe the only thing that saves them.

Austin pointed out that training additional dogs would make it possible for them to save thousands more koalas, reports ABC News.

This isn’t the only organization that is helping the koalas with the use of dogs. Recently, a detection dog named “Bear” from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland was also put to work to help rescue koalas, and his efforts won him fame. Even Tom Hanks was pointing towards Bear’s story on his Twitter and suggesting that it be used for a future movie.

Experts are estimating that over a billion animals have died in the Australian fires. We can only hope and pray that the fires will soon end and that, until then, these brave dogs will continue on their life-saving mission.

Do you want to support these dogs? Do you know of any heroic animals of your own? Invite your friends to read about their awesome work and gain the brave pooches some recognition!