Posted on 11/16/2015 5:58:54 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion
Two new guard dogs are being urgently sought to help protect one of the last colonies of little penguins on Australia’s coastline.
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The colony of little penguins on Middle Island, off the coastal town of Warrnambool in Victoria, was virtually wiped out by foxes in the 1990s and early 2000s. In one attack 360 of the diminutive birds were killed; the local newspaper described it as a “massacreâ€.
The ongoing threat prompted a local chicken farmer to suggest using maremmas to guard the penguins. The working dogs, usually deployed to protect livestock, were sent to Middle Island in 2006.
The penguin colony, which dwindled to just four identified individuals, has rebounded to 150 birds.
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Eudy and Tula, the Middle Island guard dogs, are now eight years old and project leaders are planning their retirement. A crowd-funding campaign has been launched to raise $25,000 to buy and train two puppies to replace Eudy and Tula.
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“There are ups and downs in the process. This is a world first, so we are kind of writing the manual as we go. These dogs are normally used for chickens, after all.â€
The maremmas are sent to Middle Island over the warmer months when a sandbar – which gives foxes access – appears. Volunteers feed and check on the dogs each day.
The dogs are introduced to the penguins and become friends with them. They then bark at anyone or anything that approaches the penguins.
“We train them that the island is theirs – 90% of their work is through barking,†Abbott said. “But if they did get on to a fox they’d kill it.â€
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“Now that the movie is out we will need to remind them that they are working dogs and not movie stars,†Abbott said.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
I did a Google search, expecting to find something big and brutish looking, but those things are seriously cute! BIG, and cute!
Good, informative posting! Thanks.
Had a fox in our backyard two days ago - love to watch them go into "stealth" mode and gracefully glide into the brush.
Could a “pack” of livestock guardian dogs take on a wolf pack of similar size though? (guardian dogs who are vaccinated, fed, dewormed,and strong)?
FYI “little penguins” is a PC euphemism. They were originally dwarf penguins - or something else considered offensive (by those who care)when applied to human persons.
I have a Pyrenees mix and all you said about big white flock dogs is true.
He’s not a smart dog, at but he is at his happiest protecting the cats, wife, or my kid, just hanging out 20 feet away, watching and adoring.
He wants nothing more than to protect others and make as little effort as possible. He doesn’t burn a lot of calories, and eats the same amount as his half sister (a terrier mix) who weighs half as much.
My next dog will definitely be some kind of big white flock guardian dog!
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