Bandicoots are small marsupials found across Australia, some eleven known species in all. They’ve been damaged by feral cat and fox populations, and according to Dr. Euan Ritchie, winner of the Eureka Prize for Environmental Research, the country’s focus on addressing individual feral species rather than looking at the system as a whole has created a vicious cycle. His remedy? Guardian dogs.

On the back of their success guarding penguins near Warrnambool, Maremma “bandicoot bodyguards” are being trialled through Zoos Victoria and Mt Rothwell to help save critically endangered Eastern Barred Bandicoot populations. For more on this, read here:

You’ll enjoy this trailer for the movie, “Oddball,” filmed in Warrnambool and based on the true story of the first guardian dog for the Middle Island penguin population, “Oddball,” a Maremma:

Image: Photo of Southern Brown Bandicoot released by John O’Neill into the Public Domain as Copyright Free for use worldwide.