'Hero' Australian dog who saved 100 koalas retires

An Australian dog credited with saving more than 100 koalas from bushfires is retiring after a decade of service.

Bear, an 11-year-old Australian Koolie, was among the first dogs in the country trained to detect the scent of koala fur.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare described using dogs to locate koalas as a “novel” approach.

“No one knew if it could be done,” IFAW head of programmes Josey Sharrad said in a statement on Monday.

As a puppy, Bear’s boundless energy made it difficult to stay indoors, but he found his true calling in the bush.

“He literally went from chewing the walls of a Gold Coast apartment to roaming through the Aussie bush on a mission to save our most iconic species,” Sharrad said.

Bear’s skills helped rescue over 100 koalas during the Black Summer bushfires, which swept across Australia’s eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, destroying millions of hectares, thousands of homes, and blanketing cities in thick smoke.

The tail-wagging hero, known for his “joyful and goofy” personality, retires with an impressive list of accolades, including an Animal of the Year award and the Puppy Tales Photos Australian Dog of the Year award.

He has also featured in a “dogumentary” titled Bear: Koala Hero and in the book Bear to the Rescue.

Bear will enjoy a slower-paced life on the Sunshine Coast with one of his former handlers, receiving belly rubs and playing his favourite game, fetch.

Romane Cristescu, one of his former handlers, described Bear as a “tireless ambassador for koalas for a decade”.

“He melted hearts all around the world and opened many doors so we could have critical and difficult conversations about climate change and its impacts on the threatened koalas, as well as so many other species.”