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Middle Island is a small (c. 2 ha), rocky island lying close to the shore of south-western
Because of the proximity of the island to the coast, it is accessible at low tide to predators such as foxes (''
Middle Island is a small (c. 2 ha), rocky island lying close to the shore of south-western Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Australia, in Stingray Bay next to the city of Warrnambool
Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...
. It is a wildlife sanctuary that is home to breeding colonies of little penguins (''Eudyptula minor'') and short-tailed shearwaters (''Ardenna tenuirostris''). It is closed to general public access because of the low penguin population.
Maremma Project
Because of the proximity of the island to the coast, it is accessible at low tide to predators such as foxes (''Vulpes vulpes
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
'') and stray dogs. As a result, the penguin colony declined to a low of ten breeding pairs by 2005. In 2006 an attempt began to protect the birds from foxes by the use of Maremma Sheepdog
The Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog, ( it, ), also called Maremmano, the Maremma Sheepdog or Abruzzese Sheepdog, and Cane da Pastore Abruzzese or Pastore Abruzzese (''Abruzzese Sheepdog'' and ''Abruzzese Shepherd'', respectively) is an Italian ...
s trained to protect penguins rather than sheep and to act as a deterrent to foxes. The dogs, who work in pairs, spend five or six days a week on the island during the breeding season from October to March. Since then the penguin population has been increasing and by 2016 had reached nearly two hundred. In 2017, when high tides and bad weather prevented the dogs from being taken to the island, as many as 140 penguins were killed by foxes. Numbers have since rebounded, and the project inspired a similar effort that began in late 2020 to protect newly released eastern barred bandicoot
The eastern barred bandicoot (''Perameles gunnii'') is a nocturnal, rabbit-sized marsupial endemic to southeastern Australia, being native to the island of Tasmania and mainland Victoria. It is one of three surviving bandicoot species in the g ...
s at Werribee Open Range Zoo
Werribee Open Range Zoo is an African themed zoo in Werribee, about south-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board or Zoos Victoria which also includes Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary ...
by having the dogs mind a flock of sheep.
Culture
The 2015 film '' Oddball'' is about the Penguin Preservation Project.References
Warrnambool Islands of Victoria (Australia) Seabird colonies Penguin colonies {{BarwonSouthWest-geo-stub