In Canada's Rocky Mountains, man's best friend is helping humans and grizzlies share the land. Wildlife officers in Alberta have obtained two Karelian bear dogs, a Northern European breed renowned for courage in the face of disgruntled bruins. Using techniques pioneered by Montana wildlife biologist Carrie Hunt, the 19-month-old dogs, Kuma and Mica, are learning to teach problem bears when and where they're not welcome... Hunt began examining ways of using Karelian bear dogs to tackle the problem of bear-human interaction some 12 years ago because she "got tired of watching bears die." She put together the Wind River Bear Institute in 1996 to further her ideas on "bear shepherding."
From the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife:
The Karelian Bear Dog (KBD) Project!
In addition to tracking and locating bear and assisting in hard releases, KBDs can also be trained to detect items (fish, birds, shell casings, etc.) of evidentiary value. Mishka has been trained to detect all dead animals and animal scat. On one occasion, Mishka was called to help Wildlife Officer Brian Alexander and the National Park Service Officers to locate the remains of an illegally harvested and butchered elk in a remote location in the Olympic National Park. Park Rangers and WDFW Officers had unsuccessfully expended over 600 man-hours of time and effort searching for remains before asking for and securing help from Officer Richards and Mishka. Within 15 minutes of their arrival at the scene, Mishka located several elk bone fragments that had knife marks on them and enough tissue to perform DNA testing.
Is there anything more fascinating than watching a dog do what it was born to do?
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