AUSTRALIA l Dieback is a disease destroying forests

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14/11/2025 FTS 04.30 Two specially trained detector dogs in western Australia are helping scientists identify a deadly plant disease far more quickly than traditional methods.  teleSUR  These and more stories now!  🌐Join teleSUR's community and be part of a space where your ideas matter.  https://chat.whatsapp.com/KLABTE41aSj3ioYabXQQ6K 🗣 Don't be left behind, join teleSUR's Channel https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va98Z437Noa2tjytCt1N Web💬 https://www.telesurenglish.net/ X🧶 https://twitter.com/telesurenglish Instagram 📸 https://www.instagram.com/telesurenglish/?hl=es Facebook 📱 https://www.facebook.com/teleSUREnglishOfficial Youtube ⏯ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmuTmpLY35O3csvhyA6vrkg Tiktok👌🏼 https://www.tiktok.com/@telesurenglish?_t=8hMLCY0a6z7&_r=1

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00:00Two specially trained detector docs in Western Australia are helping scientists

00:09identify a deadly plant disease far more quickly than traditional methods. Let's see more.

00:14In the forests of Western Australia, two English Springer Spaniels are being deployed to track a

00:24disease that has destroyed vast areas of native bushland. Kelly and Milo, both 14 months old,

00:31are the first detector dogs permanently based in the state to locate dieback in the field.

00:40Dieback is caused mainly by Phytophthora cinnamomy, which is a soil-borne water mold that attacks

00:45plant roots, preventing them from taking up water and nutrients. Once established, it

00:51can spread through soil, water movement, vehicles, shoes and animals, and entire ecosystems

00:57can collapse. Dieback has been present in Australia for more than 50 years, and environmental scientists

01:04describe it as one of the nation's most destructive threats to biodiversity.

01:08Parts of the dieback management puzzle that have been really challenging up to now, and

01:16the dogs can come and fill in that puzzle piece to help us get a better strategy overall.

01:23Until now, detecting dieback has relied on taking soil samples and sending them to a laboratory,

01:32a process that can take weeks. The disease is harder to identify in drought conditions when

01:37plants may show stress for unrelated reasons. The dogs, however, are trained to detect the scent

01:44of the pathogen, even when there are no visible symptoms.

01:52We hope that this program will accelerate the identification of dieback samples, making

01:58it cheaper and more accessible and easier to rapidly clear areas.

02:02So we've had a lot of drought, making it really hard to read those landscapes, and the dogs are

02:07better able to read those landscapes, and they can also do it immediately in the field.

02:14Aerial monitoring and laboratory testing will still be used, but the dogs allow conservation

02:20teams to pinpoint infected sites quickly, helping land managers fence off areas, divert tracks,

02:28or install hygiene stations before the pathogen spreads further. The Department of Biodiversity,

02:34Conservation and Attractions has secured 1.3 million Australian dollars from the Commonwealth's

02:40Saving Native Species Program, to support the project. Conservationists hope the dogs will

02:46play an important role in efforts to slow the disease's advance and protect vulnerable ecosystems

02:51across the state.

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