In the Working Group COPE, species detection dogs are increasingly used as a detection method. They play a role in several projects and can detect different animal and plant species. In the following we present a few examples:
6 December 2021 9:24am
Thanks for sharing. We've funded research using a detection dog to succesfully find hibernating hedgehogs over winter. Wondering whether they're likely to be able to detect smaller hibernators - hazel dormice - on the forest floor?
6 December 2021 3:30pm
I would bet that yes, they are capable of it-- the question is mostly detection distance and whether it's vauable in the field. We've had similar situations with turtle nests and other difficult targets.
Do you have a few known hibernation sites that could be used to test dogs? If so, that would be a big help. Feel free to reach out to me or Alice Whitelaw ([email protected]) if you'd like to discuss in more detail.
Nida Al Fulaij