A major push is underway to catch and vaccinate more than 5,000 little penguins in Victoria to protect them against the virulent H5N1 bird flu.

Victorian wildlife officers will carry out vaccinations at little penguin colonies at Phillip Island and St Kilda, in what the state government says is the world’s largest program to target wild birds. One little penguin at Phillip Island has already died of bird flu.

Capturing wildlife for vaccination is difficult, particularly because they may need two or more doses of the vaccine. So, how will this unprecedented program help little penguins?

Little penguins (Eudyptula minor) are the world’s smallest penguin, reaching a height of about 30 centimetres and weighing around 1.5 kilograms. These charismatic birds live on the southern coast of Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, as well as Tasmania and New Zealand.

Famously, they can be found on Philip Island in Victoria, where more than 700,000 people come each year to see them emerge from the ocean at sunset and waddle up the beach to their burrows in the “penguin parade”.

The colonies at Philip Island and St Kilda........

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