Hero penguin protector dog retires after almost a decade of service
www.abc.net.au
Oddball might have been the movie star, but Tula the maremma is the real hero of Middle Island's famed penguin protection program, and she's retiring after almost a decade of service.
This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/eskedie_ on 2024-07-22 02:23:08+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that 2 dogs, Eudy and Tula, saved an entire penguin species (Fairy Penguins) from extinction. There were less than 10 Fairy Penguins at the time due to heavy predation from foxes. However, quickly after Eudy and Tula arrived, the penguin population made a comeback!

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    After almost a decade spent protecting a famed little penguin colony in south-west Victoria from fox predation, Tula the maremma sheepdog is hanging up her lead.

    Along with her sister Eudy, 11-year-old Tula has been guarding breeding penguins on Middle Island, near Warrnambool, since she was just two years old.

    Now with new maremma pup Mezzo trained to be a penguin protector, Tula can look forward to a well-deserved retirement.

    The dogs bond with the flightless birds and guard against predators, such as foxes, which plague Warrnambool’s foreshore and can cross to nearby Middle Island on the sand during low tide.

    Middle Island project officer, John Sutherland, has worked with Tula and Eudy since the day they arrived in Warrnambool.

    Despite some sibling rivalry, Tula guarded her penguin colony ferociously and, as the island’s lead guardian, she was the dog who would bark first.

    The original article contains 490 words, the summary contains 144 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!