Matthew
Littlewood 13:00, Feb 12 2019
DOC
ranger Cody Thyne's conservation dog, Kip, is trained to find native birds in
some of the most torrid terrain in the Mackenzie region.
She's
cute, has an amazing sense of smell and is being used in the fight to protect
the region's wildlife.
Kip the
German shorthaired pointer has just received full certification as a
conservation dog - certified to locate Kaki, wrybill and Whio, and is now
working for the Department of Conservation (DOC) sniffing out native birds in
the Mackenzie Basin.
DOC
ranger Cody Thyne said it has taken about two years Kip to get to
this stage.
"It
takes a bit of time. You get your dog and spend quite a while teaching them the
basics," he said.
Kip
replaces the office's former conservation dog Jazz who died about two
years ago.
"We
had to jump through a number of hoops before Kip got full certification to make
sure she's completely safe.
"The
dogs really are an efficient tool for conservation work.
Their noses can't be beaten. They are an awesome advocacy
tool as people often stop me to ask what the dog is used for."
In order
to be identified, the dogs wear hi-vis vests when out on patrol and always
wear a muzzle when working around protected species.
Thyne said
the dog is able to sniff out kaki (black stilt) nests and hidden chicks.
"She
can help me find eggs.
"When
you actually go into the kaki terrain along the braided rivers it all just
looks the same, so quite often the dog can narrow the search down and point us
to the nests.
"Using
the dog is a really easy way to find the birds."
Thyne described Kip
as a "very active" dog.
"The
joy of it is the first time you see her point, or indicate, the bird. It takes
months and months to get to that stage, but it's so rewarding when it happens.
"She's
very high strung, so she needs to be kept busy."
