TV Show: Extraordinary Dogs
Aired on: 7:30 PM on March 15th, 2011 - Tuesday
Channel: Five Channel
Episode Details: Season 1 Episode 7
Episode Name: EPISODE: 7
Preview:
Diesel is a Staffordshire bull terrier owned by the South African Endangered Wildlife Trust’s carnivore conservation programme. Diesel helps the programme’s rangers track cheetahs by locating their droppings, or scat. By analysing this scat, researchers can learn about the cheetah’s sex and diet, which is vital when estimating the population size and distribution. This work has become all the more vital in recent times, as the South African cheetah population has halved in the last 25 years, while its human population has almost doubled in the same time span.
On average Diesel can find the cat droppings 30 times faster than a human. The days are long and arduous, especially in the heat of the plains. “Physically it’s very challenging,” Shannon, Diesel’s handler, explains. The dog also has to be trained once a week to maintain his keen sense of smell. Every time he successfully locates some scat, he receives a rubber ball as a reward. “Diesel absolutely loves his job,” Shannon says.
Extraordinary Dogs Season 1 Episode 7
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