As bushfires ravaged Australia and heroes stepped up to defend their communities, the world was captivated by the tales of service dogs saving koalas decimated by the blazes.
A piercing blue-eyed border-collie named Bear made international headlines after helping rescuers save injured and orphaned wildlife from forests burned to the ground in Queensland and New South Wales.
Now another unsung hero, a specially trained dog named Smudge, is assisting animal rescuers in the NSW Blue Mountains.
A koala detection dog named Smudge (pictured) has been helping wildlife experts to rescue injured koalas in burnt out areas of the Blue Mountains after being trained to track koala scat
Researcher Dr Kellie Leigh is working alongside Smudge and said dogs like him made it far easier to search for koalas in dense bushland.
'One of the challenges we’ve faced in the Blue Mountains area is they’re really difficult habitats to survey for koalas,' she told the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy.
'The trees can be really big, the canopy can be really dense and you just can’t see them by looking.'
She said Smudge was able to find twice as much scat in five minutes than a team of three skilled searchers would in an hour.
'So they’re (detection dogs) incredibly useful out here,' she said.
'We’ve trialled a lot of different survey methods and the most effective by far is using the detection dogs.
'The dog will help us find the scats, if we find fresh scat we can then start focusing on the canopy and doing an intense search and hopefully locate the koala.'
'The dog will help us find the scats, if we find fresh scat we can then start focusing on the canopy and doing an intense search and hopefully locate the koala,' Dr Leigh (pictured right) said
The conservation group has also set up a page where people can donate to help the effort.
In November, Bear was praised for his ability to sniff out both koala scat and fur.
Wearing socks to protect his paws, he was sent into safe burnt-out areas and sat still to alert his handler when a koala is near.
Bear was deployed in New South Wales and Queensland and last week.
Animal charity IFAW shared photos of Bear in action on Monday in a post which read: 'Unfortunately no signs of koalas were found, but we are hopeful that survivors will be found in nearby areas.'
Bear was abandoned by his owners because he has obsessive compulsive disorder which means he does not like to play.
Hero: A dog named Bear (pictured) has been helping firefighters save injured and orphaned koalas from forests left devastated by bushfires
On guard: The border collie-Koolie cross is the only dog in the world that can sniff out both koala faeces and fur. He wears socks to protect his feet in the forest
But he was rescued from a pound by Sunshine Coast University where he was trained to find koalas and is now based.
IFAW campaigner Josey Sharrad explained why Bear's job is so important.
'Now, more than ever, saving individual koalas is critical,' he told the Brisbane Times.
'With such an intense start to the bushfire season, it will be many weeks and months before some of these fires are out,' he said.
'All the while, wildlife will continue to need to be rescued and treated, and might remain in care for some time. The road to recovery will be long.'
On Monday a burnt koala was among those rescued in New South Wales. Pictured: A rescued koala
Bear (pictured enjoying a snack) is sent into safe burnt-out areas and sits very still to alert his handler when a koala is near
On Monday a burnt koala was among those rescued in New South Wales.
The koala named Flash was found in Taree with burns so severe he had to be sedated before treatment.
Meanwhile, heartwarming footage has emerged of firefighters giving a drink of water to two koalas they rescued from catastrophic bushfires.
Lester Miles was on his way to relieve day shift crews fighting a blaze burning for more than a week at Spicers Gap in Maryvale, Queensland, on Sunday night when he saw the koalas surrounded by flames.
The Brisbane firefighter said the koalas would have been burnt alive if they hadn't been spotted and saved.
'They had nowhere to go, there was fire all around them,' he told The Courier Mail.'
'Coming up through there we pretty much had to go through the fire itself, there were a lot of trees falling over.'
Firefighters feeding water to a koala after rescuing it from a bushfire
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