Sniffer dogs to hunt for invasive plant at Fish Creek
Alberta’s sniffer dogs, which already work to detect invasive mussels on boats in the summer, are now being trained to find an invasive plant in Fish Creek Provincial Park.
On Thursday, provincial officials demonstrated how they are training their working dogs — Hilo, Diesel, and Seuss — to detect thesium arvense, a perennial herb.
“This is pretty neat,” said Cindy Sawchuk, who runs the conservation canine program with Alberta Environment and Parks. “We’re expanding the dogs’ scent profile.”
The three dogs were initially brought to Alberta to help sniff out zebra and quagga mussels, an invasive species that could cause about $75 million in annual losses if they were to establish themselves in Alberta’s lakes and rivers.
They are now training the dogs to also detect the invasive plant first found in Fish Creek Provincial Park in 2001.
“This species has multiplied significantly,” said a backgrounder by Alberta Environment and Parks. “Thesium arvense uses host plants to acquire resources for survival and its impact on the park or surrounding areas is a concern for both park and municipal staff.”
It’ll cost approximately $25,000 for the pilot project.
“We’ll be mapping it,” said Sawchuk, noting the dog handlers will be recording GPS locations as the dogs find it.