Would you hire a stray dog if given a chance? That might sound like a strange thing to do, but it’s precisely what a Hyundai Prime dealership did in Brazil recently.

A Regular Visitor

As a pet-friendly establishment, the staff at this facility were no strangers to animal visitors. However, their most frequent four-legged guest wasn’t anyone’s pet – it was a stray. The dog had made a habit out of popping into the dealership while prowling the streets, and it didn’t take long before the workers took a shine to him. Emerson Mariano, the branch manager, grew particularly fond of the animal, so he decided to help the pooch out.

A Life-Changing Job

On a rainy night, Mariano invited the dog in to enjoy some food and get away from the bad weather. Little did the animal know that he was getting more than just a meal and some shelter for the night. Mariano decided to adopt the pooch and give him a role at the dealership. He was offered the position of Official Meeter and Greeter, a job that was apparently right up his alley. Being so “caring and docile,” he was the perfect person – well, animal – to welcome visitors to the facility.

A Growing Problem

There aren’t many dealerships you can go to that include a dog as a member of staff. However, according to Mariano, hiring this stray was necessary. Brazil’s abandoned animal population is a growing issue, and more needs to be done to resolve it. The branch manager is hopeful that taking in this dog – who he’s named Tuscon Prime – will bring awareness to the problem and show that positive intervention is possible. This stray is now a beloved member of the Hyundai Prime family, and the dealership wouldn’t be the same without him.

We’re thrilled that Tuscon Prime now has a forever home, and we hope he continues to thrive in his new job.

In the audio survey done to record the kiwi bird’s population on the North Island in New Zealand, several areas are now filled with the sounds of this bird. These areas were silent back in 2016. It is not the case anymore. The male bird has a high shriek while the female has a low growl. About 150 bird conservationists heard the sounds of these birds in December when the previous survey was done.

Rising Numbers

In order to keep a count of five of the nation’s kiwi species, the surveyors depend on the human ear and assess the status of their population in the same areas. This manual survey is called Kiwi Call Count. In 2021, there was a 50% rise in the sounds at these sites and not once were these sites silent. This survey was part of an action plan to save the kiwis in the ‘90s. Dogs, feral cats, stoats, fed on these kiwi birds as they were easy to catch as they were a species that had evolved without any native predatory mammals around.

A Successful Program

The trapping was highly successful considering that two of the kiwi species namely rowi and the northern brown had gone into the endangered zone back in 2017 as per the Red List by the IUCN. The biodiversity ranger at the Department of Conservation Ayla Wiles said to The Guardian in an interview that all these efforts put into saving the species seem worth it. She further added that it felt amazing to hear the birds again after years of silence. In fact, in a place named Whangerei Heads, there were only 80 kiwis and now there are over 1,000 of them. This is proof of the program’s success.

The Night Bird

The call of this nocturnal bird makes it easy to track animals. These calls are easily discernable in the dark. They also have some unique characteristics allowing conservationists to keep track of the same flock of birds each passing year.