Tasmania has recorded its first confirmed H5 bird flu detection, with a brown skua found dead at Burgess Cove in Rocky Cape National Park testing positive overnight.
The detection is particularly concerning given Tasmania’s globally significant wildlife and the vulnerability of species including Tasmanian devils, eastern quolls, rare parrots, seabirds and seals.
The Invasive Species Council says the arrival of H5 in Tasmania makes urgent investment in wildlife resilience even more critical – including reducing existing pressures from feral cats, pigs and deer and protecting important offshore islands and breeding sites.
‘If confirmed, the arrival of H5 bird flu in Tasmania would be another deeply concerning step in the spread of this disease across Australia,’ Invasive Species Council CEO Jack Gough said.
‘Tasmania is home to extraordinary wildlife found nowhere else, including species already under enormous pressure from invasive predators, habitat loss and other threats.
‘The Australian Government’s own bird flu risk assessment is a list of doom for our wildlife. It identifies the Tasmanian devil and eastern quoll as the land mammals at the highest risk from bird flu, while bird species such as the orange-bellied and swift parrots are also rated at very high risk.
‘Nationally, 386 native bird and mammal species – almost one in five assessed – are considered at extreme, very high or high risk from bird flu. That includes 83 critically endangered or endangered species.
‘We need to give our wildlife the best possible chance by reducing the other pressures we can control – including feral cats and other invasive species, protecting breeding sites and restoring habitat.
‘The next four years will be critical for Australian wildlife. Bird flu will come in waves, and resilience is not only about helping wildlife survive when those waves hit – it is about making sure populations are strong enough to recover afterwards.
‘The announcement of vaccines for some vulnerable species is welcome and important, but vaccines alone will not be enough.
‘That is why the Albanese Government must urgently establish a $200 million Wildlife Resilience Fund. We cannot stop bird flu moving through Australia, but we can determine how resilient our wildlife is when it arrives – and how well populations recover in the years that follow.
‘In Tasmania, that should mean urgent investment in eradicating feral cats, pigs and deer from priority offshore islands. These are threats we know how to remove, and doing so would give vulnerable wildlife safer places to breed, recover and rebuild populations after bird flu outbreaks.’
Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004
Related Content
