Gallery: Meet the Poop-Sniffing Dogs That Are Saving Endangered Wildlife
Jennifer Hartman/Conservation Canines01Jennifer-Hartman---Conservation-Canines-#6-SCOOBY
Scooby has learned more species than any other dog: 21. The black Labrador just got back from Africa where he was looking for lion, cheetah, wild dog, hyena and a host of other carnivores.
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An 11-year-old Labrador and golden retriever mix, Chester spent last summer in Alberta, Canada looking for bear, wolf, cougar and coyote poo.
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Captain hails from the state of Ohio, but today he travels as far as Turkey to look for nine different species, including lynxes, wild boar, European badgers, and pine martens.
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Sadie may be the most ball-driven dog at the center. A few years ago, she tried returning to her owners, but even at 12 years old, she was still too much for them to handle.
Jennifer Hartman/Conservation Canines05Moose tracks!
Max traveled to Cambodia a few years back to sniff out tiger scat. Back at home, he focuses on moose and woodland caribou.
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A rescue group outside Sacramento sent Hiccup to Conservation Canines after realizing his ball drive. He’s one of the five newest additions waiting to get field tested.
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Pips was adopted out three times—unsuccessfully—before ending up at Conservation Canines. Now he sniffs out short-tailed weasels, cougars, and saw whet owls.
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New recruit Jack came to Conservation Canines this past March by way of the Humane Society of Skagit County. His first project involved sniffing for bat roosts.
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More a mascot than a tracker, Casey the Jack Russell terrier prefers tagging along to classrooms and conferences than getting muddy in the field.
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A former Seattle shelter dog, Sampson has tackled some of the hardest gigs in the program, from sniffing out pocket mice to sneaky little salamanders.
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When Waylon arrived, he was 25 pounds overweight and had a bit of a grumpy attitude because of arthritis in his hips. So he mostly plays ball and lounges around the facility.
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Winnie was originally selected for a prison program, but today she focuses on searching the Sierra National Forest for fisher scat with the U.S. Forest Service.
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Ranger is a new member of the team—the black Lab mix is trained on wolverine, mink, bat and bird carcasses.
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Lil’ Man is another newcomer to Conservation Canines—they’re still deciding if he’ll make the cut.
John P. Huerd/Conservation Canines15TUCKER-3-(Photo-credit-John-P.-Huerd)
Tucker has been working the waters near the San Juan Islands for more than a decade, sniffing out hundreds of endangered orca scat samples—some up to one nautical mile away.
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Skye is the most recent addition to Conservation Canines. Her breed is uncertain, though best guesses are a miniature German Shepard.
