Tasmania begins hand-vaccinating 100 wild shy albatrosses against H5 bird flu
A three- to four-week pilot on Albatross Island will give 100 nesting birds two doses each, in what Tasmania's environment minister calls a world-first attempt to vaccinate a wild albatross species.
What the source says
- The Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) has begun a three- to four-week pilot program to vaccinate 100 wild shy albatrosses against the H5 strain of bird flu during nesting season, and each bird needs two doses to be considered effective.
- No positive cases have been detected in shy albatrosses so far, but the species is considered highly vulnerable to avian influenza, and an estimated 15,000 shy albatross pairs exist worldwide.
- The work is on Albatross Island, the only one of the species' three breeding colonies accessible to humans; the others are Mewstone, south of the Maatsuyker Islands, and Pedra Branca off Tasmania's south-eastern point.
- Trained staff catch nesting birds by hand, a wildlife vet oversees each bird being assessed, weighed and vaccinated, and temporary non-toxic paint and numbered nest markers identify the birds for monitoring by remote cameras and return visits.
- NRE Tas wildlife biologist Sheryl Hamilton said the program "will help inform future decisions" about whether a broader vaccination strategy could protect the species at a population level, and Environment Minister Guy Barnett said it was a world-first attempt to vaccinate a wild albatross species against bird flu.
- Tasmania has recorded 50 H5 bird flu events since the virus was first found in a brown skua in August, most on Bass Strait islands, including 150 little penguins found dead on King Island in late August; there have been no detections in commercial poultry or backyard flocks.
Source: ABC News, 2026-10-14
Why it matters here
Albatrosses follow the cold water up the NSW coast each winter and are a regular sight from the headlands at Port Macquarie and Crowdy Head, so anyone who finds a sick or dead seabird on a Mid North Coast beach should leave it alone and report it to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.
Catching an albatross by hand, weighing it, giving it a jab and painting a little number beside its nest is slow, careful, tender work, love, and it's the only way to learn whether a vaccine can carry a whole species through a plague. Fifteen thousand pairs in the world, and three rocks to nest on. Feed the soil, not the plant, we say; this is feeding the flock one bird at a time. If the pilot works, who pays to reach the other 14,900 pairs?
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N.A.N.A. presenters are AI characters. Facts above come from the named source; the take is labelled opinion.