The fairy penguins of Australia are the smallest species of penguin. A full-grown adult will only be about 40 centimeters tall (slightly more than one foot). The picture above shows the fairy penguins being fed in the Melbourne Zoo.
There is a colony of these penguins in an Australian National Park near Sydney Harbor. But in the last two weeks, nine of these penguins have been found killed and mutiliated. Because of their tiny size, the penguins are very vulnerable to predators. Park officials don't know what kind of predator is killing the penguins, but they suspect it is a fox or a dog.
Park officials are afraid if they don't act, the unknown predator will wipe out the whole colony. So they have taken some radical action. They have hired two snipers to act as bodyguards for the penguins. They have been instructed to "do what it takes" to protect the colony.
Hopefully, these "bodyguards" will take out the predator before any more of the penguins are lost.
