Little (or fairy) penguins are very small birds, unable to fend for themselves in the harsh climate of the wild, where they often succumb to the claws of foxes, wild dogs, and other predators. For this reason, environmentalists brought two Maremmas sheepdogs to a small fairy colony in Australia's Middle Island, in an attempt to give the small number of penguins in it a fighting chance to survive.
On the island, the penguin group was reduced from 5,000 to 100 in just a few years, after dog and fox populations have increased in size. Fearing that the entire group may be lost, scientists comprising the Middle Island Maremma Project brought two large sheepdogs to the island, to protect the little penguins and scare off the predators looking for a decent meal.
“We have seen the Maremmas barking when other animals come into the area. And we have seen foxes visiting the area less frequently as a result of the Maremmas being on the island. They can smell them and sense that there’s another dog on the island and they basically stay right away,” said project manager, Ian Fitzgibbon.
“Because no one else in the world has done it, no one has used Maremmas for conservation management, we are the pioneers and learning as we go and I guess it’s a step by step process,” he added, saying that the dogs became very fond of the penguins, and that they went out of their way to protect them.
Fitzgibbon also said that since the project started in 2006, they obtained the best penguin count this year, after the Maremmas were brought in. He and his team counted some 80 birds in a single night, and also noticed some 26 chicks, bringing new hope that the population would recover soon.
The group argues that sheepdogs could also be used to protect other small, endangered species as well, especially if what's causing their extinction is other animals. The giant “puppies” can make sure that everything smaller than them gets chased away from around the habitat they are set to protect.
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