Bird Flu Reaches New Zealand for the First Time, Threatening Native Species

H5N1 confirmed in a seabird found on a Wellington beach, prompting warnings to protect vulnerable wildlife

New Zealand has confirmed its first-ever case of the H5N1 bird flu strain, raising alarm that some of the country's most vulnerable native birds could be wiped out if the virus spreads, according to The Guardian.

A brown skua, an ocean-going seabird, tested positive after it was found dead on Petone beach in Wellington on July 10. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard confirmed the positive result on Wednesday and urged the public to report any sightings of three or more sick or dead birds found together.

The detection marks a significant moment for New Zealand, which had so far avoided the strain of avian influenza that has devastated bird populations and struck poultry and mammal species on nearly every other continent. Conservationists have long warned that the country's native birds, many of which evolved without natural predators and are found nowhere else in the world, would be especially vulnerable to a virus that has proven highly lethal to wild bird populations elsewhere.

Authorities are monitoring the situation closely and have asked the public to avoid touching sick or dead birds and instead report them to biosecurity officials. The case adds New Zealand to the growing list of countries grappling with the global spread of H5N1, which has caused mass die-offs among wild birds and repeatedly jumped into mammal populations in recent years.

— Compiled from reporting by The Guardian.