One-eyed dog joins DOC’s weed project

A one-eyed dog named Wink has proven a game changer in the eradication of a destructive weed the country.

The two-year-old border collie is the Department of Conservation’s only certified plant detection dog in the country, sniffing out spartina in an effort to restore mudflats.

Spartina was introduced to the New River Estuary in Invercargill in the 1930s to convert the mud flats into dry land. However, the plant was found to alter natural ecosystems, reducing fauna and having a detrimental effect on bird life. The plant spread out of control into other estuaries throughout Southland, including Stewart Island.

DOC’s million-dollar programme to completely eradicate the plant has involved hovercrafts, helicopter, argo utility vehicles and drones but Wink has proven to be the game changer.

Biodiversity ranger Jolie Hazley said Wink had the ability to sniff out isolated plants amongst other grass, which would be near impossible for a human to see.

‘‘Wink indicated on spartina and we all stood over this patch wondering where is it? But sure enough we discovered there was a few seed heads.’’

In 2018, Wink found 19 sites and about 80 per cent of those would not have been found if not for him, she said.

Up until Wink was introduced to the job a year ago, the programme relied on rangers driving up and down the mudflats for hours at a time, in an 8-wheel argo utility vehicle.

The focus for Wink this year is to concentrate on areas that would be hard to find elsewhere.

DOC would like to add more dogs to the programme, however funding has not been secured for the training.

ROBYN EDIE/ STUFF Department of Conservation has run its Spartina programme for 30 years, which now has the help of Wink, the plant sniffer dog, trained by John Taylor, of Invercargill.