Dogs and Conservation: emerging themes and considerations

assisted people with a multitude of practical tasks for millennia (Parker et al. 2017). Alongside the > 470 million dogs considered family members (Bedford 2020), many others are actively employed in applications including agriculture, combat and law enforcement, medical detection and therapy provision. Dogs are also increasingly used to help conservation partners tackle poaching and the illegal trade in flora and fauna, gather ecological data about imperilled and invasive species and/ or their habitats, detect illegally used poisons and their animal victims, and as alternatives to lethal control of wildlife. However, their use in fragile or disturbed environments and ecosystems may unintentionally have detrimental consequences. For example, dog faeces may introduce (sometimes non-native) parasites or pathogens, and behavioural changes may arise in free-living wildlife as a result of dog presence. Potential direct consequences via wildlife mortality have even been highlighted for separate discussion at the IUCN HWI working group meeting of the International Congress of Conservation Biology (Owens et al. 2019). To more fully examine the implications of using dogs in conservation efforts, we invited manuscripts for a special issue (SI) of Journal of Vertebrate Biology from researchers and professionals working with dogs in conservation capacities to explore the following themes: a) evidence of efficacy, or lack thereof, when using dogs in these roles; b) advances in our understanding of related canine biological adaptations, c) novel insights into the behavioural and welfare considerations; d) emerging or reevaluated sustainability considerations; or e) novel or developing conflicts of interest.