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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/24/little-penguins-bird-flu-vaccination-phillip-island-australia>
"More than 1,000 little penguins have received their first dose of bird flu
vaccine in Victoria, in what is believed to be the world’s largest vaccination
program involving wild birds.
Catherine Basterfield, the chief executive of Phillip Island Nature Parks, said
vaccinations began early last week and were ramping up.
“This is the first time anyone around the world has attempted something like
this at this scale,” she said.
“It is really tricky and penguins are difficult to handle, but we have very
well trained people.
“The penguins come up the beach, they’re able to trap them in a little pen, and
then move them into smaller pens to be able to then go through the vaccination
administration process.”
About 5,000 birds across Phillip Island and St Kilda would receive two doses of
the H5N1 vaccine, an effort that was only possible because penguins returned to
the same burrows each night.
“Everybody loves little penguins,” said the state’s environment minister,
Jaclyn Symes. “They’re an iconic little creature, they’re adorable, but they
have a significant economic value to this region and to the state of Victoria.”
In recent nights, about 300 penguins were weighed, measured and microchipped,
before being vaccinated and released. Those same birds would receive a second
dose in three weeks’ time."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
