Canine Detectives Head To Macquarie Island

[Burkes]

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 26/05/2011

Reporter: Tracy Bowden

Link

Dog trainer Steve Austen has just returned from possibly his biggest training challenge yet - delivering a team of canine detectives to the sub-Antarctic.

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Steve Austin has been working with dogs for more than 20 years, from search and rescue to quarantine.

He's just returned from possibly his biggest training challenge yet: delivering a team of canine detectives to the sub-Antarctic.

Tracy Bowden reports.

TRACY BOWDEN, REPORTER: As his precious cargo is offloaded on its way from ship to shore, Steve Austin is tense. Hanging in the balance is the culmination of two years' hard work.

STEVE AUSTIN, DOG TRAINER: You see this happening and you know that if I hit the water, they're gone.

TRACY BOWDEN: After a 1,500 kilometre journey, 12 specially trained dogs from Australia and New Zealand are arriving at their new home in the sub-Antarctic: stark, wind-blown Macquarie Island.

STEVE AUSTIN: This has taken a lot of dogs to get here. I mean, what you see now is the end result of probably 40 or 50 or 60 dogs. These dogs are the cream of the crop.

TRACY BOWDEN: For veteran dog trainer Steve Austin, it was an unusual request: find and train a group of dogs and their handlers to take part in the final phase of a rabbit eradication program on an isolated island that's a breeding ground for several species of penguin.

STEVE AUSTIN: We did a lotta non-target work yesterday, we took 'em up the far end of the beach here and did some king penguin work and some seal work, put the got the dogs right up near them and that was great. And now we're just running them up on the hills trying to find a few bunnies.

TRACY BOWDEN: The Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service is carrying out an aerial baiting program in a bid to rid the island of rabbits and rodents. The job of the dogs is to scour the island looking for any rabbits which survived the baiting.

Even on the long voyage south, the dogs' training program is maintained.

Now why have you chosen these particular dogs and what characteristics do they need?

STEVE AUSTIN, DOG HANDLER: We didn't pick any showline dogs at all. We picked all working line labs and all working line springers. And you can probably see the physicality are very different than the normal show dogs. A lot of drive, a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm.

TRACY BOWDEN: Dog handler and rabbitter Gary Bocock has already developed a soft spot for the smallest member of the team, Tum.

GARY BOCOCK, DOG HANDLER: It's a close bond and there's nothing better to come home to a dog at the end of the night and have a cuddle and a pat.

TRACY BOWDEN: This project is just the latest in a long line of requests for Steve Austin. He's been in the industry for more than two decades and has trained Australia's quarantine inspection dogs, police dogs and search and rescue dogs.

It's clear that the training has paid off. The dogs show no interest in the native wildlife.

STEVE AUSTIN: We used a lot of chickens at home and a lot of geese and a lot of ducks and we took 'em down to the beach with the seagulls and the chips, you know, and did all that sort of stuff. So I'm 100 per cent now after today's work, to make sure that they won't hurt any wildlife here.

TRACY BOWDEN: Do you think the dogs enjoy it?

STEVE AUSTIN: Just look at him. Yep, very much so, yep. That's their reward. That's what they want to do. And, yes, nah, he's enjoying it very much so.

TRACY BOWDEN: When they're at the Macquarie Island base, the dogs will be housed here in these specially built enclosures.

STEVE AUSTIN: I would suggest three years absolute minimum the dogs will be on the island and the handlers are changed over every 12 months.

TRACY BOWDEN: How about the cold, will they mind the cold?

STEVE AUSTIN: No, they'll love the cold. They're good dogs. They come from really cold climates. They've got beautiful little beds to sleep in.

TRACY BOWDEN: As well as the cold, windy conditions, the dogs and their handlers will be dealing with some rugged terrain.

STEVE AUSTIN: Particularly on the west coast, it's very rugged and very rocky, very high, very windy and quite hard work.

TRACY BOWDEN: Why did you feel attracted to this job? It looks like it could be long, hard hours, cold. What interested you?

MELISSA HOUGHTON, DOG HANDLER: Oh, well, I'm really looking forward to it. It's gonna be fantastic. We're really, really lucky to be here. And there's people - maybe there's people we couldn't imagine being here, but there's plenty of people, once they see the wildlife and see how beautiful it is, would just crave to be here and spend time here.

NANCYE WILLIAMS, DOG HANDLER: I work Katy up there three days ago and watching her go out in front and search for the rabbits and then you get to the top and you sit down and you have a rest and you just look over this amazing scenery and out to the ocean which extends further and further. It's just absolutely magnificent.

TRACY BOWDEN: How do you feel about how it's going so far?

STEVE AUSTIN: I'm very happy with everything that's been achieved so far with the dogs and the handlers. There's a lot of difficult times ahead, obviously. It's not over yet, 'cause the word is eradication and it's not control. But certainly on the right step, Trace. So, so far: 10 out of 10.

TRACY BOWDEN: The dogs will now remain on the island, ready to start work as soon as the baiting program is finished. But for Steve Austin, it's time to head home and move on to other projects.

STEVE AUSTIN: The handlers, I'll miss them a little, but the dogs I'll miss a lot. And the sunglasses were kept on when I went and said goodbye to them.

LEIGH SALES: Tracy Bowden reporting.

[Jessm]

The dogs have their own chef out there!

These dogs are going to do great things I watched the video of this the other day, Steve has done an amazing job.

[john.davey.1960]

I find the whole concept of 'feral' and 'pest' animals contradictory, unscientific and an excuse for more slaughter. Humans should look what they have done and are doing to the environment fix that up first.

[Crisovar]

I find the whole concept of 'feral' and 'pest' animals contradictory, unscientific and an excuse for more slaughter. Humans should look what they have done and are doing to the environment fix that up first.

Since it was humans who introduced the pest rabbits to the island in the 1800's I guess that is what they are doing, fixing a human stuff up.

The Rabbits are in plague proportions destroying the vegetation of the fragile island, would you rather they left them there??

[Teebs]

I was talking to Steve about this when i did my NDTF course with him, god i would have loved to have been able to go and work with the dogs!

[sandgrubber]

Where are the pictures!!!!!

[Staranais]

Great job Steve A & handlers!

[huski]

I talked to Steve about this a couple of days before he left to go to Macquarie, what great work and great Springers too :D

[Aidan3]

I find the whole concept of 'feral' and 'pest' animals contradictory, unscientific and an excuse for more slaughter. Humans should look what they have done and are doing to the environment fix that up first.

http://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?hl=en&q=rabbit%20population%20macquarie%20island&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=1216l7759l0l36l29l1l17l17l0l378l2298l2-5.3&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1334&bih=615&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ws

That ought to keep you going for a while ;)

[sandgrubber]

I find it interesting that Labbies are being used for rabbit hunting. I've always been amazed that my Labbies are uninterested in rabbits . . . though they love most rodents (eg, mice, and in the USA, gophers, and ground hogs). Guess that can be changed by training.

[sandgrubber]

Oops, double post. Sorry.

Edited June 1, 2011 by sandgrubber

[john.davey.1960]

Interesting to note that removal of the cats led to an increase in rabbits. Man controlling the environment in an unscientific and dangerous way ... again!

[toshman]

I find it interesting that Labbies are being used for rabbit hunting. I've always been amazed that my Labbies are uninterested in rabbits . . . though they love most rodents (eg, mice, and in the USA, gophers, and ground hogs). Guess that can be changed by training.

I was delighted to see that one of the breeds used is a Border Terrier (albeit a rather large, leggy one :D ) and I heard on the grapevine that Steve was particularly impressed with its work ethic.

[aussielover]

I find it interesting that Labbies are being used for rabbit hunting. I've always been amazed that my Labbies are uninterested in rabbits . . . though they love most rodents (eg, mice, and in the USA, gophers, and ground hogs). Guess that can be changed by training.

My lab is an avid rabbit hunter and catcher (rarely ).

She would love to do this job!

She spends most of her time sniffing out rabbits at the park!

I think she is actually a beagle in a labrador body lol

[Aidan3]

Interesting to note that removal of the cats led to an increase in rabbits. Man controlling the environment in an unscientific and dangerous way ... again!

My understanding is that they were well aware that removing the cats would cause an increase in the rabbit population (I think blind Freddy could have seen that), but the cats were having such a devastating effect on the birdlife that it was necessary. Whether they could have predicted the difficulties in removing the rabbits, or the destructive effect they would have in the mean-time I don't really know.

[corvus]

The relationships can be complicated, and we're taught that in uni. If you take out the feral predators, the feral prey population can explode, but if you take out the feral prey population, you can find yourself with a much higher rate of native animal predation by the feral predators. That's about as simple as it gets. More often we have no idea what is going to happen. Conservation is a very messy science. It's uncommon IMO that conservationists have the luxury to properly model the entire ecosystem so they know what to do. I guess it's more common nowadays, at least, modelling some of it is, but decisions are still often required before enough information is gathered to make them. That's the nature of it, unfortunately.