Tula the dog has retired after eight seasons of protecting penguins on Middle Island.
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After nearly a decade of protecting penguins, the 11-year-old Maremma sheepdog has retired from his protector role, with the Middle Island Maremma Penguin Project announcing the news on Monday.
Tula, along with her sister Eudy, was part of a special project established in 2006, to help protect the penguins from foxes and other dangers after experts noticed their colony declined dramatically in size.
“Her, along with her sister Eudy are the true heroes of the project and without them the project would not have been so successful,” the team shared in a statement.
“We want to thank Tula so much for her tireless efforts.
“Tula is much loved by the project staff, the Warrnambool community and the wider community of supporters of the project.”
Tula will still be apart of the project team, but instead of protecting penguins, she’ll be protecting chickens.
The canine will also help with the training of younger dogs, Mezzo and Isola.
Since Tula and Eudy began protecting the penguins, the colonies size grew from less than 10 in 2005 to 182 by 2017. The sister dogs also inspired the 2015 Aussie movie Oddball.
Dr. Trish Corbett told FitZ Media Productions that she’s been “overwhelmed” with the support following the retirement notice.
“I’ve just been overwhelmed with support since we put out her retirement notice yesterday.
“Thank you so much to everyone for their amazing comments.”
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