JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
After killing millions of animals worldwide, the highly contagious H5N1 avian flu has arrived in Australia and New Zealand. Experts warn it could push some unique and native species to extinction. Kristina Kukolja reports from Melbourne.
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KRISTINA KUKOLJA, BYLINE: Gentle waves lap the shore at sunset in Bayside, Melbourne, to reveal one of the city's cutest attractions.
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KUKOLJA: The breakwater at the end of the main pier is home to some 1,400 little penguins. Ecologist Tiana Preston is among experts warning the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus that's been spreading in Australia in the last several weeks could wipe out up to 40% of their colony.
TIANA PRESTON: It's that sort of behavior where they're coming into contact with each other a lot that makes them particularly vulnerable.
KUKOLJA: A recent Australian government assessment has found nearly 1 in 5 native birds and mammals are at high, very high or extremely high risk from the virus. Of the more than 2,000 species examined, several are already critically endangered, and, the report states, unlikely to survive infection, and hundreds are at risk of being severely depleted.
CAROL BOOTH: We could have a greatly accelerated push to extinction for a lot of species.
KUKOLJA: That's Carol Booth, a conservation and biosecurity policy expert with the group Invasive Species Australia.
BOOTH: Eighty-seven percent of our mammals are found nowhere else and almost half our bird species, which means if we lose them here, they're gone globally.
KUKOLJA: A risk acknowledged by the Australian government, which says mass wildlife deaths are now inevitable, less than two months after the first mainland case was detected. Biosecurity measures are being tightened around the country. Australia will also follow New Zealand's lead and vaccinate some native birds in captivity, says Environment Minister Murray Watt.
MURRAY WATT: We're taking this step now because, of course, the situation regarding bird flu in Australia is escalating.
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KUKOLJA: New Zealand aims to vaccinate 300 wild and captive birds from the country's five most threatened species, like the flightless nocturnal kakapo parrot.
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KUKOLJA: Ash Murphy is a biosecurity manager with the New Zealand government's Department of Conservation.
ASH MURPHY: The risk in New Zealand is some of our species are so low that a decline might be impossible to recover from.
KUKOLJA: But experts say the vaccine alone is not enough to defend native species against the virus, and more needs to be done.
For NPR News, I'm Kristina Kukolja in Melbourne, Australia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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