DOG TIME OUT CRATE SKIN
More recently, they have been successfully used to trace elusive species such as wolves, lynx, brown bears, badgers, stone martens, pine martens, wild boars, roe deer and even killer whales.Įxperts believe newts may be a particularly good species for detection dogs to find because their skin contains glands that secrete a milky, acrid-smelling substance to dissuade predators.
When in the water, the amphibians, which can grow up to 7in long, are easy to spot but they usually live below ground in burrows or rocky crevices and tend to be nocturnal.ĭogs have a sense of smell that is up to 10,000-times better than humans and they are already used to finding missing humans, bodies, drugs and bombs. “Locating newts during their subterranean phase with the use of detection dogs can provide novel insights into their terrestrial habitat preferences.”Ī loss of breeding ponds and poor water quality has resulted in a decline in the great crested newt population in recent decades and it is now of special conservation concern across Britain, central and northern Europe. Writing in the journal Plos One, Nicola Jayne Glover from the University of Salford, said: “This pioneering research shows how detection dogs can be a valuable addition to the current toolbox used to locate threatened amphibian species, particularly those using subterranean shelters.
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