Sniffer dogs trained by National Pingtung University of Science and Technology sniffed out brown root rot disease in trees on Wednesday, a feat their trainer described as globally unprecedented.
Brown root rot disease, caused by Phellinus noxius, was reported to be affecting trees in Chungshan Park (中山公園) in Pingtung County, and park officials asked the university to use its trained dogs to help find out exactly how many trees were infected.
Dog trainer Chi Wei-lien (祁偉廉) brought two beagles to the park and led them around each tree.
Photo: CNA
When the dogs detected a sick tree, they sat down on the infected roots and waited for Chi to give them a treat as a reward.
“Within just six seconds, the dogs were able to sniff out the location of the brown root rot,” Chi said, adding that he had not heard of dogs anywhere else in the world able to do that.
The idea to train the dogs came from the use of canines by truffle hunters. From this, Chi inferred that every type of fungus, including Phellinus noxius, has its own distinct scent. He then started training three beagle bitches, aged about five, using Phellinus noxius grown in the lab.
Energy and a fondness for eating are the top requirements when selecting dogs for the task, he said.
With more than 1,000 trees in the park, Chi said he expected it to take about three days to finish examining all of them.
Pingtung County Commissioner Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) also visited the park to learn about the extent of the infection. Sick trees must be cut down to prevent them from falling over and hurting people, he said.
Officials from the county’s Public Works Department said they are hopeful the dogs will identify the infected trees before the disease runs rampant in the park.
SELF-RELIANCE: Taiwan would struggle to receive aid in the event of an invasion, so it must prepare to ‘hold its own’ for the first 70 days of a war, a defense expert said Taiwan should strengthen infrastructure, stock up on reserves and step up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to fight against an enemy, legislators and experts said on Tuesday last week. The comments sought to summarize what the nation should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exceeded 300 days, since Feb. 24 last year. Institute of National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of being ready for war. Taiwan’s development of an “asymmetrical warfare” doctrine and extending mandatory conscription to one year is a good start to preparation of defense against a
The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
END OF SERIES: As the first generation of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are set to expire, the CECC would no longer offer them to children younger than four years old The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of a person infected with the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2. The Taiwanese man in his 20s arrived from Canada on Jan. 22, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division. He tested positive after reporting having a runny nose and muscle soreness while in airport quarantine, Lo said. The XBB.1.5 subvariant is the dominant strain in the US, but there is no evidence to suggest that it causes more severe illness than other Omicron subvariants, he said,
NORMALIZING TIES: The delegation led by the KMT’s Johnny Chiang is to meet with British lawmakers, think tanks and business groups to discuss developments A legislative delegation led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) arrived in the UK yesterday to rally support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Chiang heads the Legislative Yuan’s Taiwan-UK Interparliamentary Amity Association. The delegation also includes KMT legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞), Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), Sandy Yu (游毓蘭) and Wu I-ding (吳怡玎). The group is to meet with British lawmakers Alicia Kearns, who chairs the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the House Defence Select Committee; and Bob Stewart, who cochairs the
RSS