Thousands of penguins found dead in Antarctica due to suspected bird flu

Has bird flu killed hundreds or even thousands of penguins in Antarctica? A statement from Australia’s Federation University said at least 532 Adélie penguins were found dead during a scientific expedition last month, with thousands more thought to be dead as researchers try to find out.

Although researchers doubt Deadly H5N1 Avian Flu Virus The university said that although the penguins were killed, field tests were inconclusive. Samples are being shipped to labs, and researchers hope to provide answers in the coming months.

Scientists are particularly concerned that the usually deadly H5N1 flu could decimate threatened penguins and other animal species on the remote southern continent.

Since arriving in South America in 2022, the disease has spread more vigorously among wildlife than ever before and quickly spread to Antarctica, where the first H5N1 case was confirmed in February.

“This has the potential to have a huge impact on wildlife that is already affected by climate change and other environmental stresses,” said Federation University wildlife biologist Meagan Dewar, who was part of the latest expedition.

Dewar told Reuters the dead Adélie penguins were found frozen solid in sub-zero temperatures and covered in snow on the island of Haloina.

Dewar and a small team of researchers were unable to count all the bodies on the large island and estimated that thousands of people died in total sometime in the coming weeks or months.

Approximately 280,000 Adélie dogs are bred on Heloina every year. Dewar said the live penguins had finished breeding and had left by the time the expedition arrived.

Dewar’s expedition did find the H5 strain of bird flu in skuas, a predator that feeds on penguin eggs and chicks, on the Antarctic Peninsula and three nearby islands.

According to the British Antarctic Survey, approximately 20 million pairs of penguins breed in Antarctica every year.

These include emperor penguins, which scientists fear will be nearly extinct by the end of the century as sea ice shrinks due to climate change. Melting sea ice in 2022 caused thousands of emperor penguin chicks to drown.

Emperor penguins may now face the additional threat of deadly avian influenza, Dewar said. “Emperor penguins may be affected next spring,” she said.