Joyce joins Jinx the detection dog to help save our island birds

Senedd member Joyce Watson attended a Senedd event (8 Feb) organised by RSPB to discuss the protection of Wales’ seabirds.

The Mid and West Wales politician and RSPB member met Jinx the biosecurity dog. The three-year-old working cocker spaniel is the UK’s first conservation detection dog. He has been training on Ramsey island, Pembrokeshire, for the last two years and will be used on islands around Wales to sniff out rats.

Mrs Watson said:

“Wales’ islands are globally important for breeding seabirds. They are home to over half the world’s population of Manx shearwater. Grassholm is the world’s third largest gannet colony. Puffins, razorbills, guillemots, Arctic terns – our coastal islands are uniquely special.

“But they are also uniquely vulnerable to invasive predators. Just one pregnant brown rat can wreak havoc, producing a colony of 300 individuals in just eight months that would decimate a seabird colony. I remember when they were cleared from Ramsey over 20 years ago. The impact on Manx Shearwaters was astonishing – from a few hundred to 5,000 pairs in just a few years. Sadly, though, puffins have not yet returned.

“That is why the Welsh government has provided £250,000 for new biosecurity measures for Wales that includes funding for Jinx. It will help us prevent, detect and respond to future threats to our  islands’ seabird colonies.”