Warrnambool City Council dog handler Phil Root gets the message across at Stingray Bay, where a build-up of sand has left the Middle Island penguin population vulnerable to foxes and other intruders.
MAREMMA
dogs guarding Warrnambool’s endangered penguin population are working
overtime day and night keeping foxes away from the Middle Island
rookery.
Their
task has been made more challenging by recent silting over of a channel
between the mainland and island, allowing predators and spectators to
easily cross over. “There has been more fox
activity in the area so we need to leave the dogs, Eudy and Tula, on
Middle Island for longer periods especially while the penguins are
moulting,” Warrnambool’s tourism services manager Peter Abbott said
yesterday:
"People in the area need to be cautious and let the dogs do their job without being teased or disturbed. Until
the penguins finish moulting and return to sea the dogs will stay on
the island and continue to do their job in protection. Usually we rest them for a couple of days, but this week we are getting them to do double shifts. The channel is now full of sand so people and foxes can walk straight on to the island without any water for much of the time. Only the highest part of the tide is providing any protection to restrict access.”
The
Maremma protection program started in 2006 after foxes and stray dogs
slaughtered penguins and reduced the colony to four adults. It has since built up to more than 120.
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