SYDNEY, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- With over 1 million hectares of Australian bush scorched by wildfires so far this season, hundreds of the nation's much loved koalas are believed to have been left injured and in urgent need of care.
In order to help these koalas, wildlife rescuers first need to locate them, which is where a special dog named Bear comes into the picture, his handler told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Bear is a part of a detection dog program at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), which up until now has used its specially trained canines to locate wildlife based on their droppings, to conduct ecological studies.
However, with an unusually devastating bushfire season, Bear has been called in to help locate koalas in distress.
Co-founder of the USC Detection Dogs for Conservation program Dr. Romane Cristescu told Xinhua that Bear is unique in his ability to locate koalas not just by the smell of their poo, but by their fur as well, meaning he can lead carers directly to the animal itself.
"He's got the hardest job but ... the most important job because obviously, when koalas are sick and injured especially post fire, what you want is to find a koala, not just where they've been," Cristescu said.
Bear is trained to sniff out a koala in the affected zone, and sit when he comes to a tree with an animal in it - at which point he is given his ball as a reward.
"They're trained not to bark to not disturb wildlife, so they just drop, and then they get to play with their tennis ball," Cristescu said.
Cristescu explained that for herself and the other wildlife personnel, operating in the footprint of a fire can be an overwhelmingly solemn experience - but for bear it's all fun and games.
"He doesn't care about koala conservation - he just wants to play with us," Cristescu said.
"All of our dogs we rescue, and that's one thing we look for is a personality that is obsessed by a tennis ball and with boundless energy."
Bear and his handlers have only been at the task a matter of days and have so far been unable to locate any live koalas, however, Cristescu says she is very hopeful that once they are able to cover enough ground, in the right areas, they can help make a difference.
"Bear's been successful in finding sick and injured koalas in other circumstances, but we've only recently been hitting the fire zone," Cristescu said.
"Obviously, we would need to spend more time and potentially go to other areas to check whether there are survivors in other parts of the fire footprint," she said.
Volunteer organizations have ramped up efforts over the past two weeks to cope with the number of koalas affected by recent bushfires which continue to burn across large parts of the country.
