Tourism businesses brace for bird flu spread after years of planning
Tourism operators in New Zealand are preparing for the potential arrival of the H5N1 bird flu strain. Experts fear the virus could devastate native species like the royal albatross and yellow-eyed penguin, impacting both biodiversity and the local economy.
Why it matters
The spread of avian influenza poses a severe threat to unique island ecosystems and the ecotourism industries that rely on them.
Wildlife tourism businesses say they are not panicking, but they are prepared for bird flu to spread south.
A second case of the deadly H5N1 strain has been confirmed in the Wairarapa.
While the South Island currently has no cases , one Dunedin operator feared bird flu could wipe out one of the country's taonga species that was already on the brink.
Dunedin is known as the country's wildlife capital, home to toroa, hoiho and sea lions among many other native taonga.
Otago Peninsula Trust ecotourism manager Hoani Langsbury was worried the city could be the first place to discover avian influenza from birds travelling across the Tasman.
He oversees the Royal Albatross Centre, and said they had developed a special environmental monitoring system with local scientists to alert them when it arrived.
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