How authorities are vaccinating 'feisty' penguins against bird flu

The rush to protect Victoria's little penguin population against bird flu continues, with about 1,000 birds having received their first doses of a 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.

Last night, a team at the Phillip Island Nature Park, south-east of Melbourne, vaccinated their 1,000th bird, on the same day as the deadly strain that has killed hundreds of birds was detected in a long-nosed fur seal in South Australia, the first time it's been confirmed as crossing over to Australia's mammal population.

Phillip Island is home to about 40,000 little penguins, making it the world's largest colony. 

Worst-case modelling suggests a major bird flu outbreak could kill between 8,000 and 16,000 of the birds.

About 10,000 doses of the vaccine are needed for the two-shot program.

Environment Minister Jaclyn Symes says little penguins that feature in Phillip Island's nightly "parade" will have now had their first dose, with the team to recapture the birds to deliver the second dose in three to four weeks.

"We know that bird flu is here, we know we can't stop it but we want to put the penguin colony in the best possible place to ensure that they are protected as much as possible," Ms Symes said ahead of last night's effort.

Ms Symes said the vaccine would increase the antibodies each bird had but it remained unknown whether it would stop them from catching the flu.

"It will provide a level of protection but importantly, it may provide a level of ability to recover from the disease if it does catch it,"

she said.

Vaccination program thought to be world first

Phillip Island Nature Parks reserve manager Ben Thomas said the team had been out late each night over the past week, starting at the quieter end of the penguin parade ground before focusing on the busier western end of the parade on Sunday night.

He said as the penguins came up the beach, the team trapped them in an enclosure, then moved them to smaller pens to deliver the vaccine.

"They are feisty little animals; you do go home with a few bites and scratches," he said.

"We're trying to process them as quickly as we can but as gentle and safe as we can to make sure these penguins are happy and healthy."

Despite taking time to ensure careful handling, Mr Thomas said there was a sense of urgency among the team.

"[The penguins] do live shoulder to shoulder so once [the flu] arrives, it may spread quite quickly through the colony."

Phillip Island Nature Parks CEO Catherine Basterfield said it was the first time the team had attempted anything like this.

She said she also believed it was the first mass vaccination program of this scale in the world.

"It is really tricky and penguins are difficult to handle," Ms Basterfield said.

"Our team took some time earlier in the week in testing, planning, trialling different methods of being able to roll out this vaccination program." 

But she said the team was being helped by the habitual characteristics of the little penguins, which return to the same beach most nights, mostly waddle up the same pathway, return to the same burrow every night, and are used to human interaction.

Ms Basterfield said the team was confident they would be able to re-capture the same birds in three weeks' time to deliver the crucial follow-up dose.

"This is the world's largest little penguin colony so in terms of the species it's an amazing opportunity to really protect this stronghold."