New Zealand just had its first bird flu case. Now its taking a rare step to protect native birds - CNN

What the report says

CNN reported that New Zealand is moving quickly to protect some of its rarest native birds after the country detected its first known cases of the H5N1 bird flu strain. Two infected brown skuas were found alive last week, prompting concern in a nation whose isolated ecosystems support bird species found nowhere else. Officials plan to vaccinate 300 breeding pairs across five critically endangered native species, a measure CNN described as unusual internationally.

Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard said the birds’ uniqueness to New Zealand makes their protection especially important. The species at risk include emblematic flightless birds such as the kākāpō and takahē, which evolved in an environment long free of mammalian predators. CNN noted that many native birds were already under pressure from introduced predators and habitat changes, with more than half of the remaining endemic species assessed in a 2017 government report as being in serious difficulty.

Authorities had been testing thousands of birds in anticipation of H5N1 reaching the country. The virus has caused major bird deaths globally since spreading widely from Europe in 2020 and has also infected some mammals. New Zealand and Australia had been among the last regions without the strain until recent detections in brown skuas, including one in Western Australia.

The response has extended beyond vaccination. Some poultry operators have moved free-range hens indoors, Wellington Zoo has suspended close-contact penguin encounters, and the public has been told not to handle dead wildlife. At Ōamaru’s little blue penguin colony, visitors are being asked to disinfect footwear. Conservation officials told CNN that kiwi are not in the first vaccination group because they are more numerous and less likely to gather in dense groups, though two of the rarest kiwi types may be considered later.