If there’s one thing we love here at Mystical Raven, it’s dogs. And this story right here proves why they are such special beings.
Many of you know about the tragic bushfires raging through the Australian outback. Numerous rescue efforts have gone underway, and many charities and organizations are working together to bring some hope and restoration to the area and those living in it.
Unfortunately, not only were people’s homes destroyed, but many animals have suffered as well. Because of this, there are teams made specifically to check whether there are surviving koalas in the burned areas.
One of the most important team members is Bear – the koala detection dog that has been deployed to the damaged areas of Queensland.
We would like you to meet Bear, the rescue dog who seeks out and finds injured koalas.
“Our koala detection dog Bear is bringing a glimmer of hope for koalas suffering from Australia’s deadly bushfires—but these animals need more heroes to save them from this ongoing disaster. Our koala detection dog Bear is an integral part of these rescue efforts.”
“He was recently deployed to southeast Queensland and one of the hardest-hit areas of New South Wales where the bushfires decimated local koala populations. Bear is one of the few detection dogs who can locate live koalas through the scent of their fur,” International Fund for Animal Welfare posted on their Facebook page.
Bear has special training to locate koalas who are sick, injured, or orphaned.
Bear is the border collie/koolie mix who works with Detection Dogs for Conservation, where he has been specially trained to sniff out and detect sick, displaced, orphaned and injured koalas in the wild. The hardworking good boy was recently sent out to several burned areas in Australia to find koalas that might be injured and are in need of help.
Bear isn’t a puppy, even though he may feel like one. He is a full 6 years old.
Rescuing koalas is not an easy job to do – the koala detection dogs need to have no interest in people, be hyper-focused and without a prey drive. Fortunately, Bear meets the requirements – a dog that was abandoned years ago by his former owners and brought to Detection Dogs for Conservation.
Perhaps the most touching part of this story is that Bear is a rescue. He was dropped off by owners who didn’t want him.
“Bear is highly focused and brilliant at focusing on one thing – his ball which is his reward, which makes him perfectly suited for the job. He also has zero prey drive which is essential for a wildlife detection dog as they need to focus purely on the scent and not the animal, ultimately ignoring the animal,” an International Fund for Animal Welfare representative told the media.
Regardless of whether you are a cat person or a dog person, you have to admit that this is one good doggo.