For Michael Vella, conservation specialist at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on Queensland’s Gold Coast, a typical workday can involve two very different kinds of wildlife. On the spring morning I spoke to him, he and Moose, a specially trained cocker spaniel, had been out with the sanctuary’s koala research team. Moose helped locate two wild koalas, including one that needed to be vaccinated for chlamydia. Then in the afternoon, Michael donned a jumper to work in the Frog Lab, which is kept to a cool 12°C. There he’s involved with a breed-for-release program for the critically endangered Kroombit tinker frog (Taudactylus pleione). It’s an unusual species combination, but increasingly, Moose is becoming the link between them.
Michael has worked with wildlife for more than 25 years, much of that time with species so elusive that simply finding them can be one of the greatest obstacles to conserving them.
The Kroombit tinker frog is a perfect example. A male can be located by the species’ distinctive call; researchers triangulate the sound to pinpoint its location. Females, however, don’t vocalise. “Finding females is like a needle in a haystack,” Michael says. “We’ve spent many hours crawling around on the rainforest floor, just flipping rocks and leaves, hoping that we’ll come across female frogs.”
Image credit: courtesy Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
For a species that dwindled to an estimated 150 individuals before conservation intervention began, finding females and introducing new genetic diversity into the sanctuary’s breeding program is critically important. Yet despite decades of ecological research, the eggs and tadpoles of the Kroombit tinker frog have never been found in the wild.
Locating these hidden early-life stages presents an extraordinary challenge for researchers – but it can be the perfect job for a highly trained conservation detection dog.
Michael’s interest in detection dogs was sparked after he attended a conference presentation about them. He knew they were already being used for their remarkable sense of smell to detect everything from contraband to missing people. So, why not apply the same canine superpower to conservation?
“I could see the merits that detection dogs were bringing to conservation in other parts of Australia with a lot of different species of plants and animals,” he says. “I wanted to dive into it.”
Image credit: courtesy Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
Enter Moose. Michael met the energetic cocker spaniel through a dog-training course. His original owner was training him as a potential detection dog but had been offered a job overseas and needed to find a foster home for Moose. It was a golden opportunity for the sanctuary to trial the idea without the large initial investment required to establish a full conservation dog program.
Cocker spaniels have traditionally been used as hunting dogs, and training Moose involves harnessing instincts bred into generations of his breed. But Moose’s ultimate reward is not the animal he’s searching for, but something much simpler: a squeaky ball. “Moose’s favourite thing in the world is just to play with this ball,” Michael explains. Using positive reinforcement, Moose gradually learns to link a particular scent with finding an animal – and receiving his round reward.
After months of training, one moment convinced Michael the idea could work. Moose had learnt to identify fresh koala scat in controlled conditions. Then Michael took Moose into bushland filled with unfamiliar smells, and the dog detected scat that Michael hadn’t put there. “I looked up in a tree and [saw] a koala sitting right above it,” Michael says. “It was a big highlight and a very reassuring moment that we were doing the right thing. We were on the right track.”
Image credit: courtesy Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
Now, another cryptic and elusive species is providing Moose with an even greater challenge. The endangered eastern bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus) lives among dense grasses, where the species’ nests can be virtually invisible to human eyes. The beautiful, hollow, dome-shaped structures sit low among tight grass tussocks. Moose is being trained to find their scent, but also, importantly, to stop before reaching them. “He’s trained to stand very straight and stare at the nest location to indicate its whereabouts,” Michael explains.
Trials using nests deliberately placed in suitable habitat have been very successful. The next step is searching for active wild nests, from which conservationists may be able to carefully bring eggs or chicks into a breeding program to strengthen the species’ genetic diversity.
This is likely just the beginning of what Moose and other wildlife detection dogs can achieve. Michael says dogs can cover considerably more ground than people while providing a relatively non-invasive way of detecting wildlife. “They basically can smell what can’t be seen,” he says. “The efficiency is definitely the big thing.”
The vision now is to turn this promising experiment into an established conservation detection dog program with three dogs, dedicated staff and, eventually, its own facility. The dogs could support the sanctuary’s work with koalas, eastern bristlebirds and Kroombit tinker frogs while collaborating with other conservation programs.
For Michael though, Moose has another important role. Cryptic frogs and elusive little brown birds can struggle for public attention. But an exuberant cocker spaniel is quite another matter. “We need an ambassador for our conservation programs here at Currumbin,” he says. And behind that loveable ambassador are species whose futures remain precarious.