In northeastern Washington 1,400 K-12 rural underserved students at 11 schools played ball with the CK9s in 2016. After one demonstration a 6th grade girl told her teacher that she now didn't know what kind of scientist she wanted to be. The teacher shared that this is the
Mission: To distinguish between multiple, concurrent pressures
facing wildlife over a large geographic range. The
Conservation Canines program addresses this need
by combining the precision and efficiency of detection
dogs to readily locate wildlife scat samples with
the ability to extract a wide variety of genetic and
physiological indicators from scat. These indicators
provide information about species abundance,
distribution, resource use, and physiological health all
in relation to the environmental pressure(s) the species
is encountering.
Scat detection dogs are able to locate samples from
multiple species simultaneously across large, remote
areas and have a lower bias compared to traditional
wildlife detection methods. No other method can
acquire such a vast amount of reliable information
in so short a time, making this approach incredibly
valuable for conservation and management planners.
Results: We've trained our dogs to locate over 35 different species and we are just getting started!
In northeastern Washington 1,400 K-12 rural underserved students at 11 schools played ball with the CK9s in 2016. After one demonstration a 6th grade girl told her teacher that she now didn't know what kind of scientist she wanted to be. The teacher shared that this is the kind of dilemma that she wants for her students. Scat detection rescued shelter dogs + kids+ real wildlife conservation projects in our backyard + science + GPS technology + career role models = Engaging our future stewards of earth & its critters! The CK9s present acton-filled participatory outreach programs.
As a biologist I was lucky enough to work alongside Conservation Canines and was impressed by their professionalism and work ethics. Whether it was getting up at 3am, crawling through honey bushes or working under 86F heat, they always provided a remarkable assistance and lead to find those precious faeces!! They made this survey possible and have opened a world of new possibilities to improve ecological surveys.
Conservation canines have worked with us to detect the endangered Pacific pocket mouse and the American badger in San Diego County. They are extremely professional and a pleasure to work with! Very highly recommended.
