SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SUN (San Bernardino, California) 10 January 07 Dogs recruited to sniff out tortoises (Andrew Silva)
Through the eyes of a typical dog, a desert tortoise would be nothing but a crunchy chew toy.
But one scientific team has tapped dogs to help save the threatened reptile.
Currently, the only way to survey for tortoises is to lay out a grid on the desert floor and tramp among the cactus and scrub trying to find the reclusive critters.
"It's very labor-intensive and takes a lot of time," said Mary Cablk, associate research professor at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nev.
So for the past couple of years, Cablk has been working with dogs that normally sniff out explosives, drugs or cadavers to see if they can help survey for tortoises.
The dogs in her DTK9 program (as in "desert tortoise and canine" were used last fall during a tortoise survey at Edwards Air Force Base, about 90 minutes north of San Bernardino.
"The dogs were much better at finding them under shrubs," she said. "If you can find them, you can help conservation. The more tortoises you find, the more data you collect."
The dogs and their handlers must meet specific requirements.
"We want a dog with a good work ethic," Cablk said. "I go to a target, and I get rewarded."
She's conducting meticulous experiments, including planting tortoises, to determine how well the tortoise-sniffing dogs perform.
In 2005, six of the 10 dogs put through the program did well. The successful dogs from that bunch were brought back last year.
It looks promising that biologists could have another tool for researching the official state reptile of California.
"We have to see (the tortoises)," she said. "Dogs rely on their sense of smell."
Dogs recruited to sniff out tortoises