July 5th, 2011 | 
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Oscar Koala Detection Dog
This below story is from
Canine koala mapping trials Published: 15 June 2011 Mayor Pam Parker, Jim McDonnell and Jim Shields with Oscar Logan City Council has taken part in a trial of a very unique technique to assist with the city’s koala mapping – in the form of a specially trained pooch named Oscar. Mayor Pam Parker said Council had been identifying new and alternative techniques for surveying koalas for some time and was currently exploring the possibility of utilising a one-of-a-kind koala detection dog. “Koalas are undeniably one of Australia’s most treasured wildlife,” she said. “We are extremely fortunate in Logan to have significant tree cover (78.9%) in both public and private ownership and most of the eucalypt communities are home to koalas. “Council is committed to the conservation of our furry friends and is currently exploring new methods which can be used across the city to help with our future surveys.” Cr Parker confirmed Council currently relies on state surveys and mapping for koalas but that the surveys only cover areas within the Koala Coast in the north of the city and were very labour intensive, as a result Council is working on the development of better and more cost effective techniques. “Oscar may provide a fantastic alternative technique to assist with habitat quality mapping as he is trained to rapidly locate koala scent from scats and urine at specific trees, which reduces the search time considerably,” she said. “Detection dogs have been used in wildlife research across the world for many years and they have proved extremely useful when searching for rare and elusive animals, which are sometimes hard to find using other techniques. “Previously detection dogs have been trained and proved of benefit to assist with the detection of many animals including endangered native quolls, the introduced red ear slider turtles and cane toads on remote islands, so it is a welcome development that these same techniques are now being developed and enhanced to assist with the mapping of koalas.” Cr Parker said she believed Oscar was the first of his kind in the world and was proud that Logan was able to take part in the trialling of this new technique. “The potential for using detection dogs in the conservation of our koala inhabitants is extremely exciting and it was great to recently see Oscar’s training being put to the test in Logan,” she said. “Oscar’s owner and handler, Jim Shields, has an abundance of experience in wildlife management across New South Wales and through his determination to establish more accurate koala search methods he has, with the assistance of a highly experienced dog trainer, successfully trained Oscar to identify koalas in the hope to contribute to the conservation and protection of these much-loved animals. “While it is still early days in the adaptation of previously successful detection dog techniques to assist with koala mapping, Oscar and Jim will continue their operational training to ensure Oscar becomes a useful tool for wildlife conservation.”
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Posted in Koala Detection Dogs
Logan Council, Mayor Pam Parker and Jim McDonnel were very supportive and provided the resources to trial in Queensland the world’s first koala detection dog for conservation purposes – they are determined to develop a wise koala policy in a difficult spot. If Oscar and I can help, we would be most pleased – Oscar particularly liked the demonstration in the park and having lunch with the staff – who spoiled him terribly, the big sook. Thanks Anna M. too.
[...] a few weeks ago we were at Logan with the World’s first Koala detection dog Oscar Pictured with Logan City Council Mayor Pam Parker, Jim McDonnell and Jim Shields. We are [...]