Monday 7 November 2011

Conservation Dogs Bat Carcass Detection Dog Talk for Warwick Bat Group 5th October 2011

Conservation dogs –
new survey methods for wildlife detection
Learn how dogs can benefit conservation, from detecting bat carcasses at the base of a wind turbine to tracking downs scats of elusive species in woodland.
Wednesday 5th October @ 7.30pm – talk by Louise Wilson and demonstration from Twister the bat dog – not to be missed!
Venue:   Brandon Marsh, Warks Wildlife Trust, CV3 3GW. £3 members  £4 non-members

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were delighted to be asked by Jackie Underhill and Anna Swift to attend Warwick Bat Group in October to carry out a demo of Twisters capability as a bat carcass detection dog and deliver a presentation about Conservation Dogs and our projects.

We recieved a great welcome and had such a great turn out and so many enthusiastic people in attendance. The demo was done unfortuantely in pouring rain much to the spectators dissapointment , oh and of course my own. But it didnt prevent Twister from doing his job in limited light as well due to the demo taking place at night.

I was so happy to hear from ecologists and conservationists that they were impressed with the speed at which Twister found and indicated on the bat carcass'. My collegue Sarah Young attended also and was a great help in assisting with the dogs and all our equipment too. So Thanks Sarah.

I even had a volunteer ask to collect the carcass's at the end of the demo that had been flagged by Twister and myself, and the bats still were very hard to find and collect even then. Making it apparent how dogs can conciderably speed up the detection rate and accuracey of bat and bird carcass's collection.


Bo- Explosive detection dog at recent search.

The Dogs

Twister had a great time and I also brought in my Explosive Detection Dog "Bo", my Springadore, as she loves events like these and is thrilled to say hello to everyone.

I cant wait to have a second visit to Warwick bat group and I also want to thank them for the lovely hospitality and kindness they showed on our visit.

Sunday 6 November 2011

Conservation Dogs attending Wind and Biodiversity Seminar in Portugal


Bio3 and the University of Aveiro are organizing a Wind & Biodiversity Seminar on the 15th November 2011 and we will be there.

 Hugo and Miguel from Bio3 Visited Wagtail UK and Conservation Dogs training establishment earlier this year were we discussed possible collaboration or the ability to consult with Bio3 with our bat carcass detection dog projects.


Bio3 have been so proactive in the use of dogs in helping detect bat and bird carcass' to help measure mortality rates on wind turbine sites in Portugal and surrounding areas.

They have such a good team and great enthusiasm for the use of Dogs in Conservation that we were thrilled to receive an invite to this Wind and Biodiversity Seminar.


check it out:-
http://www.bio3.pt/en/press-and-media/news/Bio3-and-the-University-of-Aveiro-are-organizing-the-Wind-Biodiversity-Seminar/61

We would be thrilled to one day work with BIO 3 and cant wait to catch up with all the team on our visit.