It is early morning on a remote Northern Territory beach, but the heat and humidity are already stifling.<\/p>\n
As the sun rises, a group of Indigenous rangers and a government veterinarian have their eyes fixed on the ground.<\/p>\n
They are carrying out one of the most important biosecurity jobs in Australia \u2014 they are looking for fresh, juicy bird poos.<\/p>\n
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Bulgul rangers Paige McLeod (left) and Brendan Morgan Armstrong with veterinary officer Fiona Knox. (ABC Rural: Fiona Broom)<\/p>\n
Global bird flu threat<\/p>\n
The devastating H5N1 bird flu has spread to almost every corner of the world \u2014 including Antarctica.<\/p>\n
It has killed wild animals, hundreds of millions of commercial poultry, and even infected dairy herds in the United States.<\/p>\n
But it has not yet been detected in Australia.<\/p>\n
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The Bulgul Land and Sea Rangers manage 36,000 hectares of country across the Delissavale\/Wagait\/Larrakia Land Trust. (ABC Rural: Fiona Broom)<\/p>\n
Farmers want to keep it that way, because the arrival of H5N1 could decimate Australia’s multi-billion-dollar chicken meat and egg industries.<\/p>\n
And while H5N1 could arrive in Australia through a range of routes, migratory birds are a key risk pathway.<\/p>\n
Rangers watching the north<\/p>\n
On the shores of the Timor Sea, Paige McLeod and her fellow Bulgul rangers go out early in the morning to get the best samples from the wild birds’ poo.<\/p>\n
“The UV rays degrade the samples, so it’s usually around 7 o’clock in the morning when the sun is starting to come up,” Ms McLeod said.<\/p>\n
“The tide’s slowly going out, and all the birds are just here.”<\/p>\n
This time of year, birds that have been out in the world \u2014 mixing with potentially infected wildlife \u2014 are arriving on Australia’s shores and wetlands.<\/p>\n
It is a big task, searching for signs of bird flu among the estimated 2 million migratory birds that will land across the north.<\/p>\n