In an effort to protect Australia’s most threatened beach-nesting birds, Green Adelaide has enlisted the services of a dog to detect one of their biggest threats – European foxes.

The trained conservation dog has been working on Adelaide and Hills and Fleurieu beaches.

Nessie, an English springer spaniel, took just minutes to sniff out elusive fox dens that would have taken human conservation teams hours to find.

Foxes are a significant threat to hooded plovers’ eggs and chicks, with disturbance by people and off-lead dogs also a major concern.

Detecting and managing fox dens aims to disrupt patterns of fox behaviour, such as foraging on beaches and targeting nests, to provide respite to breeding birds and improve their chicks’ chance of survival.

Invasive species like foxes, feral cats and declared weeds are deadly to native animals and pose a serious threat to the environment, agriculture and even health.

Feral cats alone have played a major role in the extinction of 27 native species since colonisation and many more face an uncertain future. 

In addition to the loss of biodiversity, pest species are seriously the economy, with a 2021 research papercalculating the cost of invasive species to Australia at $389.59 billion and rising.

Working smarter is how South Australia’s landscape boards are tackling this issue, making inroads with a range of savvy solutions.