A spaniel named Jinx has been tasked with a special mission - to protect the seabirds of the Pembrokeshire coast and the rest of Wales.

He has been given the proud title of the UK’s first conservation detection dog after two years’ training with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

His role will now be to sniff out one of the greatest perils known to already-threatened seabird colonies – rats!

Three-year-old working cocker spaniel Jinx is part of a £250,000 Welsh Government-funded project to expand biosecurity for Wales.

Western Telegraph: Jinx has an important role to play in the protection of our island birds.Jinx has an important role to play in the protection of our island birds. (Image: Welsh Government)

His role is so important because a single pregnant rat can produce a colony of over 300 in just eight months. Rats are expert hunters and would quickly eat eggs, chicks and even adult birds.

Only last December, there was a major biodiversity alert for Pembrokeshire’s Skomer Island – home to over 350,000 pairs of Manx Shearwater and 39,000 puffins – after a fishing boat ran aground.

There were fears that if rats were on the vessel they could have gone ashore to the island and devastated the seabird population.

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The survival of Wales’ seabirds is also under threat from climate change, unsustainable fisheries, marine development and pandemics - such as the recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu (HPAI) which killed more than 5000 gannets on Grassholm Island last year.

Western Telegraph:

Minister for Climate Change, Julie James was introduced to Jinx today, Wednesday February 8 and said: “I was delighted to meet Jinx who I have no doubt will deliver the mission we have tasked him with – to protect Wales’ seabirds from rats and other mammalian predators.

"Thanks to the intense training he completed with his expert handler, Greg, we are confident that the biosecurity on our islands will be greatly improved under his service.

“Protecting our seabirds and balancing our precious ecosystems is all of our responsibility as we face the climate and nature emergencies.

"We can help Jinx do his job properly by being vigilant to critters on our clothes, invasive species in our rucksacks or mammalian hunters who hitchhike a lift when we visit these islands.

"Please report anything suspicious immediately. Thank you to RSPB for your vital work in protecting our seabirds and all our partners who have worked together to make Jinx the UK’s first biosecurity dog.”

Senior marine policy officer, RSPB Cymru, Emily Williams said: “We are delighted that Jinx will be continuing his work on biosecurity through this new project.

"Biosecurity is a vital element of seabird conservation, at a time when seabirds need our help more than ever. Coupled with the developing welsh seabird conservation strategy and marine environmental planning, we can turn the tide for seabirds in Wales."

 

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