Dog spooked by sealion is rescued from remote Pacific island

Dog spooked by sealion is rescued from remote Pacific island | iNFOnews.ca
This undated photo released by New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC), shows Kowhai, left, and Flint at a Wellington harbor waterfront. Flint, the rat-detecting dog, was on a remote island between New Zealand and Antarctica as part of a mission involving the military when a sealion charged at him. He got spooked and ran away, and couldn’t be found by a military helicopter. The team was forced to leave him behind on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019. But he was rescued on Friday, Nov. 29 after a helicopter crew flew to the island and found he’d walked back to the base. (New Zealand Department of Conservation via AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Things first started to go wrong for Flint the rat-detecting dog when a sealion charged at him. Spooked, he ran from his handler and went missing on remote Campbell Island, located between mainland New Zealand and Antarctica.

Making things worse? Flint was wearing a muzzle, so he couldn’t eat.

He was there as part of Operation Endurance, a work program involving conservation and weather officials as well as New Zealand’s military.

A military helicopter equipped with a thermal imaging camera scoured the island, but Flint couldn’t be found. Late Wednesday, with bad weather threatening, the team made the call to leave Flint behind.

But on Friday, a helicopter crew flew 650 kilometres (400 miles) across the Pacific Ocean and found Flint alive and well. He’d walked back to the base.

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