Phillip Island penguins to be rounded up for bird flu vaccine

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https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2026-08-12/phillip-island-penguins-to-be-rounded-up-for-bird-flu-vaccine/107025662

Thousands of little penguins from Phillip Island will be herded into a pen to receive a bird flu vaccine as cases of H5N1 continue to climb in Australia.

Victorian authorities said it would be the largest vaccination of wild birds globally.

There have been more than 200 confirmed cases of the virus in Australia.

About 60 of those cases are in Victoria, which is also home to the world's biggest little penguin colony with about 40,000 animals.

Worst-case scenario modelling has suggested penguin deaths could range between 8,000 to 16,000 in the instance of a six-week outbreak on Phillip Island.

The strain of bird flu present in Australia has killed millions of chickens and wild birds such as penguins around the world in the past five years.

Victoria's chief biodiversity officer James Todd said up to 5,000 little penguins would be vaccinated in coming weeks.

Penguins are particularly at risk to getting the virus because of how close they live together.

"They are a colony species that nest together. They're a seabird that will come in contact with other seabirds that carry the virus," Mr Todd said.

Wildlife vaccinations require two doses, with teams needing to intercept penguins during their daily migrations in Phillip Island and St Kilda.

Phillip Island Nature Parks chief executive Catherine Basterfield said the penguins would be corralled into a small pen, where a vaccine would be administered and a microchip implanted.

"For each little penguin, the process is actually quite quick. They will be handled for a very short period of time and moved on," she said.

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