<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/08/earless-dragons-presumed-extinct-victoria-australia-wildlife-detection-dogs-found-them>
"Wildlife detection dogs successfully sniffed out 13 critically endangered
earless dragons in previously unknown burrows in Melbourne’s west, after a
training program launched by Zoos Victoria in 2023.
The Victorian grassland earless dragon – Australia’s most imperilled reptile –
had not been seen for 50 years and was thought extinct before its remarkable
rediscovery on privately owned grassland in 2023.
Given this “second chance” at survival, Garry Peterson, the zoo’s general
manager of threatened species, said the organisation launched intensive
training and search efforts the same year.
“We’re really lucky to have a second opportunity with this species that was
presumed extinct,” Peterson said.
But it wasn’t going to be easy to find them. It’s thought there are probably
fewer than 200 dragons left in the wild and the short, nuggetty and extremely
rare dragons often hid inside wolf spider burrows or under rocks, making them
challenging to find using traditional survey techniques.
That’s where the zoo’s dogs came in."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
