Skylos Ecology

10/06/2026

Land puppies helping sky puppies. 🐾 🦇

A great write-up by Dr Stevie Florent in Bat Conservation International’s latest blog on the bats and wind farms research project our dog teams were a part of over summer.

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

29/05/2026

Two weeks ago, we reached a significant milestone. We completed the data collection component of a landmark project commissioned by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) under their Renewables Environmental Research Initiative (RERI).

The “Onshore Wind Farm Mitigation and Curtailment Trials” is the first of its kind in Australia, comparing multiple curtailment strategies to improve our understanding of their effectiveness in reducing bat collision risk at wind farms. 🦇

For the past four months our dog teams have been out in the field for twice-weekly surveys at selected turbines. This week, we sat down and looked back at what that effort actually amounted to, and the numbers are quite staggering...

🔹Survey days: 77

🔹Turbines searched: 612

🔹Total area surveyed: 1530 ha / 15.3 km² (100% coverage)

🔹Total survey time: 453 hours

We certainly feel some of those figures in our bodies! But what kept us going during all those early mornings in the peak of summer, the achy muscles, and Groundhog Day repetition of it all was the why. We hope the data we collected delivers meaningful, evidence-based solutions to reduce bat strikes at wind farms across Australia. Certainly, having the importance of the work at the forefront of our minds got us through some of the more challenging days. 🖤

With a survey effort of this scale, dog team welfare was, as always, our top priority. Our pack of seven experienced conservation detection dogs allowed us to rotate dogs throughout each survey day, ensuring no dog exceeded their working quota. Plus, regular rest days were scheduled for everyone, both two-legged and four-legged. Whilst it was a mammoth effort, this planning made everything manageable.

A huge thank you to everyone who gave so much to make this possible…

🥾 Handlers: Fiona Jackson, Jesra Garcia, Katie Copeland and Tracy Lyten.
🐾 Superdogs: Arran, Cruise, Jimmy, Oakley, Rex, Raasay and Sonny.

This really was a team effort, so our deepest gratitude goes to everyone who pulled it off! 🙏

📊 And now the baton has been passed to the incredible research team; Dr Emma Bennett (Elmoby Ecology), Dr Stevie Florent (University of Canterbury), and Michael Whitby (Bat Conservation International), who will analyse the data and translate all of that fieldwork into findings that we hope will make a real difference for Australian bat species. We look forward to reading their findings in due course!

💻 This project is part of the Renewables Environmental Research Initiative (RERI), more information on all the research projects can be found here: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/epbc/advice/renewable-energy-projects/reri

01/05/2026

What a week! Alongside delivering two renewable energy projects, we completed our first independent detectability trial for 2026. 🔍

Detection trials are designed to best replicate a standard field day, with our detection teams tasked to locate targets across 25 hectares of varied terrain, from open farmland to native bushland, reflecting the real conditions we work in. We came away with a total detection rate of 96% across all dog teams. ✅

A special mention to Jesra and Cruise (K9) who achieved a perfect 100% score on their very first independent trial, an outstanding debut. 👏

Thank you to Dr Emma Bennett from Elmoby Ecology for running the assessments. Detectability trials are a key requirement under wind farm bat and avifauna management plans, and we value the rigour an independent assessment brings to our work. 🙏

21/04/2026

🐔 We always appreciate a farm stay with some friendly chooks who assist in safe animal interaction training.

It was nice to see Sonny demonstrate some impulse control around a flighty bird in close proximity. And Oakley looked to be enjoying the extra company.

Nice manners boys! 👌☺️

13/04/2026

🗣️ This Wednesday Fiona and Tracy will be presenting (online) to the Ecological Consultants Association of Victoria Inc.

They’ll be exploring what conservation dogs can do, how their efficiency compares to traditional survey methods and the quality of resulting data. They’ll also be covering some frequently asked questions we get from consultants in relation to utilising CDDs within a monitoring program.🐾 🌱

DETAILS:
📆Date: Wednesday, April 15th, 12.30pm-1.30pm
Schedule: Guest Speaker Session with plenty of time for questions
Online via Zoom (link will be sent out via email the day of the event)

TICKETS:
🎟️ECA Vic Members: Free (Please register through their membership portal so ECA Vic can send you the Zoom link)

🎟️Non-members: $20 -> get your ticket here: https://events.humanitix.com/conservation-dogs

Not a member? ECA VIC are offering a 20% discount on membership for this event! This is how it works:
1. Email them on [email protected]
2. Receive your discount code and save 20% off your membership
3. After signing up as a member, book your free ticket for this event and enjoy many other member benefits!

31/03/2026

🔥 Helping us understand invasive predator activity in a post-fire landscape.🔥

In January 2026, bushfires tore through Carlisle Heath near Gellibrand in the Great Otway National Park, burning over 11,000 hectares.

The heath is a landscape of ecological significance. Threatened species such as the long-nosed potoroo, southern brown bandicoot, swamp antechinus and white-footed dunnart rely on the dense shrubbery the heath provides.

After a fire, with little food or shelter, native species become particularly vulnerable and are further exposed to fox and feral cat predation.
🦊 🐈‍⬛

To better understand how these invasive predators are behaving and navigating the post-fire environment, Skylos Ecology was engaged by Parks Victoria to collect data in Carlisle Heath to support research by the The University of Melbourne.

In February and March, Fiona and Sonny (K9) deployed to Carlisle Heath and collected fox and feral cat scats for genetic and dietary analysis.
💩🧬

⏳Collecting this data so soon after the fires will provide our project partners with time-critical evidence on invasive predator behaviour in the national park.

Along with the efforts being made by many others, we hope our contribution helps to protect the heath post-fire. Thank you to Parks Victoria and Melbourne University for the opportunity to assist with this important research. 💚

Please note: Surveys were completed under the strict supervision of Parks Victoria and in accordance with Forest Fire Management Victoria’s Incident Control Centre (ICC) instructions and oversight. This included Fiona completing training to obtain her Basic Wildfire Awareness certificate before being deployed to the Carlisle Heath fire ground. ✅

📍This work was conducted on Eastern Maar Country. Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation

24/03/2026

Calling all conservation detection dog teams!
🐕🌿

We’re working on a research project looking at potential risks to conservation detection dogs associated with 1080 use, and we’d love your help.

We’re keen to hear from conservation detection dog groups about the procedures or protocols you use when working in or around potentially baited areas—things like SOPs, risk management steps, or training practices.

Any information shared will be treated confidentially and used only in a de‑identified way to help build a clearer picture of current practices.

If you’re happy to contribute or want to know more, please get in touch: [email protected]
Thanks for helping support dog welfare and safe conservation work!

16/03/2026

Oops, we’ve been a bit quiet on here lately. 🤫

So far this year our team has been flat out in the field across multiple projects. It’s been one of those stretches where we just focus on the work, eating, resting and then repeating. 😅🔁

🦇 During this time we’ve been out every week working on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s Renewables Environmental Research Initiative (RERI) bat curtailment research project in collaboration with the University of Canterbury. We’ve also continued our busy bat season surveying with our other long-term renewable energy monitoring programs. 🌬️

🦊 🐰 Ecologist Jesra Garcia led invasive pest management projects at two wind farm sites, which will require further monitoring and reporting throughout the year.

🐈 🦊 Fiona and Sonny donned the emergency service greens when they were deployed to conduct invasive predator research in the Otways following the recent bushfires at Carlisle Heath. This research is in partnership with Parks Victoria and The University of Melbourne, to better understand invasive predator behaviour in the post fire landscape.

💻 And when we’ve found a moment, we’ve been in the office putting in some groundwork on projects happening later in the year, which we are really excited to share more about when we can. 😁

It’s been such a busy stretch, but we all feel very lucky to be doing the work we do. All our humans and dogs are an extraordinary group of teammates and we’re very proud of the effort everyone puts in, day after day, to support conservation efforts and each other. ❤️

We look forward to sharing some photos, stories and behind-the-scenes moments from the past couple of months soon. Stay tuned. 🐾🌏

11/03/2026

We are really looking forward to discussing conservation detection dogs as an environmental data collection methodology with Ecological Consultants Association of Victoria Inc.

🗓️ Wednesday 15 April @ 12:30

Details below on how to sign up for this talk. 👇

📌Upcoming Event: Conservation Dogs for Environmental Data Collection

Explore the world of conservation dogs and their part in ecological consulting at our next online event with Tracy Lyten and Fiona Jackson from Skylos Ecology!

Tracy and Fiona specialise in the application of conservation detection dog methodologies as a highly effective, data-driven survey tool for locating cryptic species, invasive plants, wildlife scats, carcasses and other target materials.

In this session, learn about what conservation dogs can do, how their efficiency compares to traditional survey methods and the quality of resulting data. We will also be covering the regulations for using dogs in assessments, and issues in the industry.

DETAILS:
Date: Wednesday, April 15th, 12.30pm-1.30pm
Schedule: Guest Speaker Session with plenty of time for questions
Online via Zoom (link will be sent out via email the day of the event)

TICKETS:
ECA Vic Members: Free (Please register through our membership portal so we can send you the Zoom link)
Non-members: $20 -> get your ticket here: https://events.humanitix.com/conservation-dogs

Not a member? We are offering a 20% discount on membership for this event! This is how it works:
1. Email us on [email protected]
2. Receive your discount code and save 20% off your membership
3. After signing up as a member, book your free ticket for this event and enjoy many other member benefits!

28/02/2026

Just hanging out together. 🦜🐾😎