Antonio Opio

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Heffernan, Emily

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies

Abstract

Biodiversity has faced severe declines since the industrial revolution, with nearly 68% of monitored species actively declining worldwide. Among methods for conservation research, Conservation Detection Dogs (CDDs) have grown in popularity since the first program began implementing them for scat detection in the 1990s. CDDs have been utilized for work including the detection of live animals, biological remnants, carcasses, plants, pathogens, poachers, and poached contraband, among a variety of applications. Their usage has assisted in the management of introduced species, monitoring of endangered species, and prevention of wildlife crime. I evaluated a set of case studies within 3 categories: introduced and pest species, endangered species, and wildlife protection, reviewed 9 CDD programs, and created illustrations in order to contribute to public awareness of CDDs and display the primary species within each study. Based on this work, I have found that CDDs make a viable method of species tracking, often operating with higher efficiency than other methods (camera traps, visual surveys, hair snares, etc). Despite higher costs, which can be mitigated through community science, CDDs serve incredibly well as a means of continued research and addressing the impacts of biodiversity loss globally.

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