Video: Special Detection Dog Named “Bear” Helps Find Koalas Injured in Australia Bushfires

A very unique four-legged hero is looking for remaining koalas in the burned-out areas of the wild lands as wildfires rage across Australia.

Bear, a 6-year-old canine trained to find koalas, has received rigorous training. He started his career in koala detection at the age of one after being given to Detection Dogs for Conservation by his prior owners who could no longer care for him.

Bear was indifferent in people and did not enjoy being petted, thus he was not an ideal family pet. However, he would be a fantastic candidate for training detection dogs.

When he was around a year old, he was brought in for evaluation. Within minutes, he was “The One” they had been seeking for to train on real koalas. He is sadly not the best family pet because he is hyperactive, obsessive, dislikes being touched, and has little interest in people. But because of these qualities, he was picked because he would be the best detection dog.

Bear is unique since he is trained to find living koalas, unlike most detection canines that are trained to find koala scat. As a result, he is an important member of the wildlife rescue teams that are working relentlessly to find surviving koalas.

The lovely border collie/koolie mix, dressed in his vest and safety shoes, is very busy sniffing for evidence of live koalas that have been displaced, hurt, or orphaned by the fires.

Despite the devastating loss of hundreds of koalas, Bear is hard at work searching for survivors among the burned-out greenery.

“Bear is laser-focused and amazing at focusing on one thing – his ball, which is his prize – making him ideal for the job.

He also has no hunt drive, which is necessary for a wildlife detection dog because they must concentrate solely on the scent and ignore the animal,” according to 9News. Bear’s task is enormous, and there appears to be no end in sight.

Video: Special Detection Dog Named “Bear”