Penguin bird flu vaccination drive passes 1,000-dose milestone on Phillip Island
Authorities on Phillip Island have vaccinated 1,000 little penguins against H5N1 bird flu as part of a larger effort to protect the colony. The program aims to vaccinate 5,000 birds to mitigate the impact of a potential outbreak.
Why it matters
This initiative represents a critical conservation effort to protect the world's largest little penguin colony from a deadly virus that has recently begun crossing into mammal populations.
The vaccination team is delivering thousands of doses to little penguins on Phillip Island. ( ABC News )
About 1,000 little penguins on Phillip Island have now received a dose of the H5N1 bird flu vaccine.
Authorities are planning to vaccinate 5,000 of the island's 40,000-bird population.
The birds require two shots of the vaccine several weeks apart.
Link copied Share Share article The rush to protect Victoria's little penguin population against bird flu continues, with about 1,000 birds having received their first doses of an H5N1 vaccine.
Authorities plan to vaccinate 5,000 little penguins at Phillip Island and St Kilda, with hundreds of the birds being rounded up and given a shot each night for the past week.
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