Man’s best friend is helping the Wolf Education and
Research Center in Boise, Idaho. Hounds with a hankering for
fetching are being retrained to sniff out bear, lynx, wolverine and
even rhino scat, resulting in less need for tagging and
radio-tracking (HCN, 2/16/98). A trained dog can survey a livestock
depredation site for scat, which can then be analyzed for its DNA,
ultimately linking the scat to an individual animal, says research
biologist Megan Parker. To recruit a dog for field projects,
contact the center at the Wolf Education and Research Center, P.O.
Box 917, Boise, ID 83701
(208/343-2248).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Scat Spot, scat.
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