{"id":899643,"date":"2026-09-21T04:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/899643\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T04:06:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:06:15","slug":"four-sea-lions-test-positive-for-h5-bird-flu-at-key-breeding-ground-off-kangaroo-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/899643\/","title":{"rendered":"Four sea lions test positive for H5 bird flu at key breeding ground off Kangaroo Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tell us about your experience. <\/p>\n

South Australia’s sea lion population is increasingly being affected by H5 bird flu, with four of the mammals \u2014 including one pup \u2014 testing positive for the virus.<\/p>\n

The sea lions were among 12 found dead on the North Page and South Page islands, a key breeding location for the animals between the South Australian mainland and Kangaroo Island.<\/p>\n

SA Environment Minister Emily Bourke said there has also been a mass mortality event involving crested terns on the Pages, with about 900 of the birds found dead.<\/p>\n

“This isn’t new in the sense of a new species, but it is an event of significance to be highlighting today,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A dead greater crested tern found earlier this year in the state’s South East. (ABC News: Carl Saville)<\/p>\n

Ms Bourke said out of 10 deceased sea lions available for testing, three adults and one pup returned positive results.<\/p>\n

The results bring the total number of South Australian sea lions with bird flu up to five, following a positive case at Kangaroo Island’s Seal Bay last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There have been significant fears from environmentalists that the virus could devastate the sea lion population, which is recorded as endangered on international threatened species lists.<\/p>\n

A major bird flu outbreak on Heard Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, has killed more than 13,000 baby seals<\/a> since last year.<\/p>\n

Ms Bourke said the latest cases in the state were “concerning” in light of those Southern Ocean events, but discussions are underway with the federal government to gain approval for a vaccine trial targeting mammals.<\/p>\n

She said a separate trial aimed specifically at birds has been underway at Cleland Wildlife Park, with more than 150 vaccines administered since last month.<\/p>\n

\"Emily<\/p>\n

Emily Bourke says talks are underway with the federal government about a vaccine trial targeting mammals. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)<\/p>\n

“We are pulling every lever possible to show we are willing, able and capable of participating in a national vaccine program,” she said.<\/p>\n

Separately, magpies have also tested positive at Hindmarsh Island, which Ms Bourke said was an indication the virus would eventually travel further inland.<\/p>\n

“We’ve seen it in Monarto, we’ve seen it in metropolitan areas, within inland areas in South Australia,” she said.<\/p>\n

“This isn’t a coastal issue \u2026 it is a national issue, and it is being addressed that way.”<\/p>\n

The government said two dead sea lions on Liguanea Island, off the southern point of Eyre Peninsula, were also tested but returned negative results for bird flu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tell us about your experience. South Australia’s sea lion population is increasingly being affected by H5 bird flu,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":899644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,1845,468126,397074,137,25160,432247,64403,1124,468127],"class_list":["post-899643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bird-flu","tag-bird-flu-sa","tag-great-crested-tern","tag-health","tag-kangaroo-island","tag-north-page","tag-sea-lions","tag-south-australia","tag-south-page-islands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}