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Middle Island is situated to the south of Warrnambool
and has long been home to a colony of Little Penguins.

Get Involved
How you can help the Penguins The groups involved in the Middle Island Conservation Project welcome support. If you want to come and visit the home of the Maremmas and Middle Island Visit Warrnambool Donate with Paypal...
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Meet the Maremmas
You can meet the maremmas that are penguin guardians of Middle Island. Where and when will depend upon the time of the year. Please remember that our dogs are working dogs and we need to manage the level of exposure they have to people to ensure...
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Conservation
The Middle Island Maremma Project began in 2006 when there was a sharp decline in the colony size of Little Penguins on Middle Island due to fox predation. A Deakin University study of the 1999-2000 breeding season found 292 occupied burrows with...
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Maremma Dogs

A local chicken farmer, Swampy Marsh, suggested Maremma guardian dogs could be used to protect the penguins. Swampy had successfully used Maremmas to help protect his free range chickens. In a world-first, Maremma dogs were trained and placed on Middle Island to protect the penguins from foxes during the breeding season. The project has been a huge success, with no evidence of fox attacks since the beginning of the Project and a steady increase in penguin colony size to an estimated 180 penguins in 2013. Middle Island has been closed to the public since 2006 to protect penguin burrows...
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