The Department of Conservation has a new weapon in the fight against predators and invasive weeds this summer - and it has four legs.
A network of highly-trained specialist dogs will be out working this summer to keep our native species safe.
One of the specialist dogs, Wink, has just one eye, but he’s still a force to be reckoned with in the hunt for invasive weed spartina.
“He's just got no problems at all," dog trainer John Taylor said. "You wouldn't even know he's only got one eye, it's only when you're close up to him."
The two-and-a-half-year-old collie, the only certified spartina dog in the country, is part of a wide network of more than 90 specialist dogs working with DOC nationwide.
“We've got the species detection dogs, who are finding our native species like our kiwi and our whio, tuatara, and then we've got our pest detection dogs, which are finding quite a range of pest species,” Conservation Dogs programme manager Helen Neale explained.
Spartina is an introduced weed that can change wetlands into grassland.
“If we didn't have the dog, those plants would spread again, and we would lose all the gains that we've made in the last couple of years,” Environment Canterbury principal advisor biosecurity, Laurence Smith, said.
Wink sniffs out hidden infestations which weed killers can't see. He’s proven successful, too, having nearly eradicated the weed in the South Island.
However, while there may only be a handful of spartina weeds left in Canterbury, it’s the hardest part of the entire eradication. The final 1 per cent of the work is expected to cost just as much as the previous 99 per cent.
Wink hasn't been able to see out of his right eye, after it was ulcerated as a pup, but Mr Taylor says he just needs to put him in the right spot.
“He’s got a better nose that what I've got, and it's just up to me to put this dog in the right place so that he can scent the plant,” he said.
SHARE ME