The dog who helps detect and save the lives of koalas during bushfires
Many four-legged friends are just happy to run around and chase a ball, but this dog sniffs out koala poo during search and rescue operations to help save their lives during catastrophic bushfires.
NSW
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TAYLOR just “nose” when there is an injured koala up to 125m away.
The springer spaniel is busy sniffing out wounded wildlife amid the ash left behind after fires destroyed more than one million hectares of bushland. The four-year-old pooch is trained to track the scent of a koala’s poop.
“She is trained to prioritise the scent of the live animal and sit as close to it as she can because she smells the odour dropping from the tree,” owner and trainer Ryan Tate said. “If she is unable to locate the live animal she will lie down with her nose in front of their scat.”
It’s not just koalas that Taylor can rescue. Her entire litter, and her dad, work professionally finding animals such as turtles, toads, bilbies, birds and stick insects.
There is a total fire ban in the Hunter and Central Ranges, with a high fire danger in New England, central west plains, Illawarra, Shoalhaven and southern Riverina and a very high fire danger in the far north coast, greater Sydney and southern ranges.