Rescue dogs trained to track koalas were crucial in detecting the injured marsupials during the 2019-2020 bush fires.

Romane Cristescu, director and co-founder of Detection Dogs for Conservation told Murray Wilton and Murray Olds koalas are “cryptic” creatures and very good at hiding in the wild.

“We need a better way to find them and study them because otherwise you don’t know how to protect them.”

Ms Cristescu decided to introduce a controversial approach and saved a pound dog from death row and trained it to detect koalas.

“She is ball obsessed … so what made her not such a great pet, it made her an exceptional detection dog.

“Rescuing her from a pretty sad ending helped her, helped me and helped koala[s].”

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Image: Getty