Maremmas Guard the Chooks in Dinner Jackets

There are a number of links in this post if you would like more information.

On Tuesday evening, we joined a group of visitors and locals on a guided tour of Middle Island near the breakwater in Warrnambool (about 3 km from our house). Little penguins have been nesting on the island for many years, but the population suffered from fox predation over the years, with an estimated 600 penguins in 1999 reduced to less than 10 by 2005. As the conservation groups strategized solutions, a local free range chook (chicken) farmer suggested they try using his Maremma Sheepdogs (ma-ree-ma). The farmer, known as "Swampy," said, "Sure, the dogs will work. Penguins are just chooks in dinner suits!" And so they embarked on an experiment that won them the 2010 Australian Government Coastcare Award.

That's our group in neon - "safety precautions" because we had to wade over there

Happy to have visitors!

Penguin populations have increased the last couple years and local authorities are optimistic. It was such a novel success that there is a movie being made about it. It's being filmed here over the next few months and will be titled "Oddball" because that was the name of one of the first dogs to guard the penguins.

The Maremma Sheepdog is a breed of livestock guard dog indigenous to central Italy. It has been used for centuries by Italian shepherds to guard sheep from wolves. The two dogs we met on the tour are sisters and the second set of dogs to be used for this purpose. They work 5-6 days on the island and 5-6 days off. (I asked if they were unionized...) The scent they leave continues to discourage foxes when they aren't there. They had tried to cordon off the island with an electric fence to be used with shock collars, but ultimately decided on containing the dogs in the long boardwalk that stretches across the island. Someone brings them food and water every day, usually on the public tour.

Any chance I can get to pet a dog...

Some of the penguin nesting boxes have webcams in them and you are supposed to be able to watch them from a live webcam, but we were told they were having some technical difficulties right now.

Some burrows in the ground, and some man-made nests

Solar panel powers the webcams, pole at the end sends the signals

View from Middle Island of the breakwater (on right) and Lady Bay in the background

We didn't see any penguins on this tour, but we took this picture a few months back from another island. Looks like a few were there.

Also, Swampy has been in the news of late. He's quite the eccentric character.