CONSERVATION CANINES

Around the world, specially trained dogs are working with handlers to improve the environment.

In some places dogs sniff out illegal animal products such as ivory, pelts, and horns, both at poaching sites and in distant places where the contraband is shipped. Dogs are being used to discover invasive species like zebra mussels, preventing expensive, hard-to-manage infestations. Rare and endangered animals can be tracked through the discovery of their scat. Dogs are perfect for these jobs, with a success rate that far exceeds that of human conservationists. Guard dogs protect domesticated animals from reintroduced predators like bears and wolves, reducing farmers’ urge to destroy these vulnerable populations. They’re also employed to find poisoned bait that farmers have deployed. Perhaps the most unusual use is that of dogs on boats that seek out the floating scat of nonmigratory orcas off the coast of Washington. The scat provides detailed information on the status of environmental threats to the endangered whales. Numerous color photographs accompany the detailed text. Text boxes offer additional information. Unfortunately, both those and photograph captions are presented in very small print. Readers might also wish for more photographs of the rarely seen animals such as pangolin and quoll. The final chapter includes ways readers can help in the field, although some may be unrealistic for the young audience. Anjelica Houston contributes a foreword.

A well-researched and balanced presentation on a pertinent, high-interest topic.