By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-17 03:10:10 | Updated at 2026-08-17 06:02:27
3 hours ago
MELBOURNE – Australia has kicked off a vaccination programme for Little Penguins in the state of Victoria after the first death from bird flu was reported in the breed, highlighting the danger to Australia’s native wildlife and billion-dollar tourism industry.
Victoria’s chief biodiversity officer James Todd announced the first positive detection of the H5 influenza in a Little Penguin at Phillip Island, one of the state’s most popular tourist destinations, on Aug 15 – about two months after the country’s first case of the virus was confirmed in Western Australia.
The rollout of vaccinations for more than 5,000 of the popular animal is due to begin on Aug 17, with each bird to receive two doses to protect against the H5 influenza.
Watching penguins in their native habitat is the key drawcard for tourists to the island.
“At this time of year, most birds are actually out at sea, still feeding, so there’s only a few hundred that are really returning to the nests,” Todd said on Channel 7’s Sunrise programme on Aug 17.
“We’ll start to see that increase over the coming months, so now’s the perfect time to be starting a vaccination programme.”
Australia is seeing a rapid escalation in H5 influenza cases, with the virus having reached every state in the country just months after the first infections were detected in migratory birds in June.
The poultry industry is on high alert for any cases of the virus, with none detected so far.
State governments have begun to vaccinate vulnerable or endangered species amid fears of a larger impact on the nation’s tourism sector, which was worth more than A$200 billion (S$181.33 billion) in the financial year ending June 2025. BLOOMBERG
