The biosecurity team tasked with achieving Auckland's pest-free 2050 goal is getting a significant boost in numbers.
Staff say dogs are the most effective tools for pest detection, so the conservation dog team is doubling.
One dog, Stella, is going to be the world's first plague skink detection dog.
"Plague skinks are really good at finding their way into building materials and potting mix - all that sort of stuff that people like to take out to the islands - so all her work will be around the wharfs and ferries," Auckland Council's Brian Shields said.
She's only a week into her training, but it's hoped she'll get to work in a few months’ time.
Meanwhile, Mawhai is training to sniff out stoats.
"Got a lot of promise. Cool dog, really good little hunter," Mr Shields said.
They're familiarised with a pest's smell and are rewarded when they find them.
The new recruits are joining Auckland Council's dog team, which is doubling from five to 10.
The $200,000 investment also includes a new training facility and two new dog handlers, and there are plans to expand further.
"One teaspoon of sugar in a coffee cup, and we can smell it. That teaspoon in two Olympic-sized swimming pools, a dog can smell it."
As well as a superior nose, dogs can also cover more ground and are more cost-efficient.
One team has been working on Rakino Island in the Hauraki Gulf following reports of a rat.
"So far, it's been three or four weeks and we’ve found nothing, and we're here today to do a final sweep with four dog handlers."
The dogs are trained to find pests but don't kill them. They also have special training to avoid our protected species.
New Zealand's goal is to eradicate possums, stoats and rats by 2050. The Department of Conservation's pest detection dog numbers have increased from 21 to 35 in just three years.
"We've got a plague skink dog trained up and also a weed dog. We are looking at different dogs to cover different pest species," DOC's Hannah Johnson said.
Auckland is going further, aiming to rid the city of all plant and animal pests by 2050.
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