The British military has hired the star of a Canadian reality-TV show to teach its soldiers tracking techniques that they can use to spot signs of improvised explosive devices when they deploy to Afghanistan.

A group of British soldiers trained earlier in Alberta earlier this summer with Terry Grant, who stars in the popular show Mantracker, in which a pair of contestants try to outrun Mr. Grant as he chases them over vast stretches of Canadian wilderness on horseback using his tracking skills.

Mr. Grant, who has also worked as a cowboy, big game guide and search and rescue volunteer, spent two days imparting his knowledge of ground awareness skills to soldiers of the 7th Armoured Brigade, otherwise known as the Desert Rats. It’s the latest move by the British army to stem troop losses from the hidden roadside bombs, which were responsible for 80 of the 108 deaths the British military suffered in Afghanistan in 2009.

“It’s really not about finding IEDs, it’s about being track aware,” Mr. Grant said. “It’s about being able to look at the road in front of you and being able to recognize human footprints versus animal footprints versus no footprints.”