A dog trained in Russia to sniff for tiger droppings has begun searching for the big cats in an area in Cambodia, conservationists said.
The German wirehaired pointer named Maggie recently began to search for signs of tigers in Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area.
“Normally, a dog can smell very far. So we are using the dog to find the tigers in the area,” said Men Soriyun, a project manager for the area.
Conservationists are uncertain how many of the big cats remain in Cambodia’s jungles.
A second dog will be brought from Russia to the protected area later this year, according to conservationists at the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Tigers originally ranged over much of Asia, but are now scattered across parts of south and southeast Asia, with a few populations in the Russian far east and China, according to the group.
There are around 5,000 tigers left in Asia, which is a far cry from the 500,000 that roamed the area 200 years ago. Hunting and habitat destruction were the main causes of the decline.
In 2006 the group and conservation outfit Panthera, also based in New York, launched a 10-million-dollar initiative called “Tigers Forever.”
The use of sniffer dogs is part of the program, which aims to increase tiger populations by 50 percent in key sites across Asia over ten years.
(STAFF WRITER WITH AFP)
自然保育學者表示，一隻在俄國受訓、專門嗅聞老虎糞便的獵犬，已開始在柬埔寨境內某地區搜尋老虎行蹤。
這隻名叫「梅姬」的德國剛毛指示犬日前開始在聖瑪生物多樣性自然保育區中，尋找老虎出沒的線索。
該區計劃負責人曼•梭里雲說：「狗通常能聞到很遠距離外的氣味。所以我們打算利用這隻狗找出藏身此區的老虎。」
自然保育人員無法確定柬埔寨叢林中還有多少老虎。
據野生動物保育協會的自然保育學者表示，第二隻獵犬今年稍晚將從俄國送往該保育區。
該協會表示，老虎原本遍佈亞洲各地，但目前僅零星分佈於南亞和東南亞的部份地區，在俄國遠東地區和中國境內也有少數老虎出沒。
亞洲目前約有五千隻老虎，數量和兩百年前在此漫遊的五十萬隻不可同日而語。狩獵和棲息地被破壞是牠們數量銳減的主因。
二ＯＯ六年時，該協會和總部同樣設在紐約的自然保育團體「豹屬」，發起了一項千萬美元的「老虎永存」活動。
利用受過嗅聞訓練的狗只是這項計畫的一部分，該計畫旨在未來十年內讓亞洲重點地區的老虎數量增加五成。（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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