A four-year-old border terrier named Scout is helping to wipe out one of New Zealand's most destructive pests on the Otago Peninsula, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Scout is a certified conservation dog who works with his handler, Jonah Kitto-Verhoef, as part of the Halo Project, a Predator Free Dunedin delivery partner.
The two have covered rugged cliff faces, scrubby bush, and open farmland over several months, working to confirm that no possums remain.
Efforts on the peninsula stretch back 17 years, when residents and volunteers began removing possums on their own. Locals ran the operation independently for 12 years before Predator Free 2050 funding arrived, accelerating the final push.
Possums are a threat to native birds and ground-nesting species like hoiho on the peninsula, and removing them has already allowed wildlife to bounce back.
Scout has a specific job in the fight. Rather than chasing possums, he sniffs out their droppings in places that are hard for people to reach, like gorse thickets and penguin nesting areas.
When he picks up a scent, he drops to the ground and starts wagging his tail. Kitto-Verhoef then tosses him a pink ball that squeaks as payment for a job well done.
Scout can cover a lot of ground and gives answers almost immediately, something that cameras and traps can't do without sitting in place for weeks. Kitto-Verhoef checks what Scout has found and assesses its age, helping the team determine whether the pests are still around.
The project has been in a cleanup stage for roughly a year, with Scout's job shifting from locating possums to confirming they're gone.
Camera-equipped traps with AI technology and thermal drones complete their toolkit, letting crews know exactly where to concentrate.
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"This has predominantly been a community project, just under 25,000 possums have been removed," said Hoani Langsbury, chair of the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group.
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