Amorhunter (CC0), Pixabay

In New South Wales, another furry hero has emerged amidst the raging bushfires. Taylor, a four-year-old English springer spaniel, is a conservation detection dog in Port Macquarie. Together with Ryan Tate, his trainer, they help search for koalas that need rescuing.

Taylor started training as a conservation detection dog when he was just eight weeks old. According to Ryan, he taught Taylor by giving her treats and tennis balls every time she was able to smell koala poo or fur. She learned to enjoy sniffing the surroundings and to discriminate against the particular smell of koalas.

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With constant training, Taylor became an expert. But, she is not just an expert in finding koalas. Taylor also trained to sniff out quolls, foxes, cats, rats, and rabbits. She’s an all-around sniffing dog.

Bred to hunt, Springer spaniels are hunters’ companion, but Taylor was trained for conservation purposes instead. Speaking of their adventures together, Ryan said Taylor helps to find koalas by following the freshest scats. They will then call the expert koala spotters at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.

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Ever since the fires started ravaging New South Wales, Ryan and Taylor have been on standby. They’ve gone in to help on four occasions and successfully located eight koalas. Taylor and other conservation dogs like her saved koalas and other animals from the fires.

Sue Ashton, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital’s president, is just thankful for Taylor and Ryan for their services and valuable efforts in the search-and-rescue-program. Sue said they never even imagined that they’d be using Taylor in the fires, but everything’s working out so well.

Taylor is an excellent asset to the team because she’s fast, very dedicated, and able to cover a lot more area. The team has been in and out of the fire zones. In these times, the Koala Hospital has already treated more than 30 injured koalas.

Thanks to our friends at Today Show on YouTube for posting about Taylor’s heroism.

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