Dogs To The Rescue (For Conservation)
Across the world, conservationists rely on dogs' keen sense of smell to help with various projects.
A great slideshow by treehugger first brought the noble work of these canine conservationists to our attention. It highlighted dogs that track wildlife poachers, help marine biologists find orca scat in the ocean, preserve penguins and more.
With a little more research, we found Working Dogs for Conservation and Conservation Canines—organizations that share more examples of impressive work, such as dogs' assistance with protecting the world's rarest great ape or finding invasive beetle species in Minnesota.
In fact, the list of species dogs have been trained to find is huge. It includes giant anteaters, jaguars, kiwi birds, fire ants, brown tree snakes and gypsy moths.
But not every dog has what it takes to work in conservation. According to Working Dogs for Conservation, just 1 in 1,000 canines has the intense drive and high energy required for the job.