Special Dogs Assist in Wild Tiger Conservation Efforts in Cambodia

In the Asian zodiac, this is the year of the tiger but conservationists say wild tiger populations are quickly disappearing. In Cambodia, there is hope that a pair of special dogs from the United States can help save the tiger.

22 February 2010

A female tiger, Neang Sros, gapes while her taking a rest at the Tuek Chhou Zoo in Kampot province, some 150 kilometers south of the Phnom Penh, Cambodia

In Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia conservationists estimate hunting and poaching have reduced tiger numbers to fewer than 30 in each country.

In eastern Cambodia's Mondulkiri Protected Forest, conservationists have brought in unique specialists to track down the few remaining tigers.

Sadie May and Scooby Doo are black Labrador retrievers. They are part of Conservation Canines, a project at the University of Washington in the U.S. that trains dogs to sniff for wild animal feces - also called scat.

Scooby's handler, Jennifer Hartman, says the dogs are much faster than human researchers at finding tiger scat.

"And we train them to sit at them, which shows us that they have something," she said. "And, we come and check it out. And, all of our dogs are extremely ball driven - they love to play. So, their reward for finding a scat is they get to play ball for two to three minutes and that keeps them good all day long."