Australia’s little penguin colony could lose up to 40% of population to bird flu
- Up to two in five of the little penguins at a colony in Australia’s Melbourne could die if H5 bird flu reaches the beach suburb, according to the volunteers who monitor them, days after Australia confirmed its first mass die-off of wildlife from the virus.
- About 1,400 little penguins nest in the rocks of the breakwater at St Kilda where crowds gather at dusk to watch the birds come ashore.
- Little penguins are the smallest of the world's penguin species, standing about 30cm tall, and Victoria holds most of the Australian population, including the larger colony on Phillip Island.
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- Up to two in five of the little penguins at a colony in Australia’s Melbourne could die if H5 bird flu reaches the beach suburb, according to the volunteers who monitor them, days after Australia confirmed its first mass die-off of wildlife from the virus.
- About 1,400 little penguins nest in the rocks of the breakwater at St Kilda where crowds gather at dusk to watch the birds come ashore.
- Little penguins are the smallest of the world's penguin species, standing about 30cm tall, and Victoria holds most of the Australian population, including the larger colony on Phillip Island.
Sources: The Independent