Dogs have always been known as man’s best friend...
but Das, Summer and Olivia have raised the bar.
Border collies Summer, Das and Olivia wear their special seed-spreading backpacks. (Photo: Francisca Torres)
The worst wildfire season in Chile's history, devastated more
than 1.4 million acres early in 2017, destroying nearly 1,500 homes and killing
at least 11 people. More than a dozen countries sent fire-fighting specialists
to help battle the dozens of destructive blazes. When the fires were finally
extinguished, the landscape was a carbonized wasteland.
A few months later, a unique team was brought in to help restore
the damaged ecosystem. Border collies Das, Summer and Olivia were equipped with
special backpacks packed with native seeds. Then they were sent on a mission:
let loose to race through the ruined forests. As they run and play, the seeds
are spread.
"The main thing is for the fauna to be able to live,"
said Francisca Torres, the owner of the three dogs tasked with this big
mission.
Torres, who runs the
environmental NGO named Pewos, said border collies – bred to herd sheep – are
smart and fast and therefore perfect for the job. They are certainly better
than humans, she said, as the dogs can cover a range of 30 kilometers in a day,
whereas a person could only do 3 kilometers.
The project started in
March 2017. Over the past months, the dogs have been used in 15 forests in the
Maule region. In some of them, green is coming back, and seedlings and vines
are beginning to push through the blackened earth.
Follow the adventures of
this trio and their amazing caregivers!
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