Japan will conduct its first demonstration test of a sniffer dog to detect venomous fire ants as part of efforts to prevent the invasive species from entering the country, sources said Tuesday.
The Environment Ministry plans to carry out the test at a port facility in Tokyo as early as October, the sources said. The ministry will consider a full-scale introduction of fire ant-detecting dogs if they are confirmed to be effective.
In April, the government designated fire ants, native to South America, as a specified invasive alien species under a revised law that requires emergency measures because of the serious damage they could cause.
Fire ants, which are highly aggressive, have been found in 18 of Japan's 47 prefectures, including Hokkaido, Tokyo, Shizuoka, Aichi, Hyogo and Fukuoka.
The sniffer dog that will be used in the planned test is a small beagle to be dispatched from Monsters' Agrotech, a Taiwanese company providing fire ant research and extermination services.
According to the ministry, fire ant sniffer dogs are used in Taiwan and Australia.
In fiscal 2016, the prefectural government of Okinawa considered introducing such a sniffer dog but currently, no Japanese local government uses them.
Fire ant sniffer dogs sit down to inform humans of the presence of the ants.
The test will check whether a sniffer dog can find fire ants in a container storage area at the Tokyo port facility, distinguish between fire ants and native ants and concentrate on detection tasks for up to four hours a day.
Currently, port facility operators in Japan use bait to look for fire ants.