“The conservation dogs undertake pest detection, not destruction; basically, the dog handler observes a dog that is trained to sniff out rodents, if a dog indicates the scent of a rodent, it is escalated to an incursion response.
“Once it is found, a person kills the pest humanely, not the dogs.”
Gordon said the operation came about because the islands were predator-free, and rodent dog checks were one of the best, most cost-effective tools for knowing whether there was an incursion.
DoC staff checked pest-free Coromandel/Hauraki Islands four times a year with conservation dogs, he said.
“No concerns, just routine checks; however, there was a boat run aground on one island during our checks, so it was lucky we had a rodent detection dog on board.”
Gordon said handlers walked around on the islands observing their dogs, checking the high-risk incursion sites, which included sites where illegal landings were most likely to occur, around structures, and coastal areas.
The data was used to produce field reports.
The main concern was the protection of native plants and animals.
“These regular surveillance checks of pest-free islands significantly benefit conservation, as these sites are some of the best representations of natural ecosystems in New Zealand and require extremely high levels of protection; hence why they are closed to the public and illegal to land on.”
Piki and Piri are local — both live in Tapu on the Thames coast with their handlers.
Gordon said it took about 18 months of daily training for the dogs to become certified for their target species.
A certified dog meets a “high standard of obedience and control and demonstrates a proven ability to detect their target species and associated scents, for example scat or urine”.
They also learned aversion to non-target scents.
“A dog and handler are tested by conservation dogs programme assessors to gain an interim certificate and, following further training, which could include pairing with a mentor, they must complete another test to become fully certified.”
A dog handler team’s certification lasted for three years, and they were then reassessed to ensure their proficiency. Young dogs were usually reassessed after a year.
Gordon confirmed there were no concerns raised in the latest checks, and all islands came back with no rodent detection.
“The public can assist DoC to keep these important islands free of pests by reporting any illegal landings to DoC.
“Boat owners should make sure they do not have any stowaways on their boats (rodents, skinks, ants, etc) when they fish or come close to any of these islands.”
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