Christmas Island’s seabirds will be better prepared for the threat of H5 avian influenza (bird flu) thanks to major upgrades to a Parks Australia seabird rehabilitation facility.
Upgrades will increase biosecurity and holding capacity. This will allow the facility to:
- temporarily hold and monitor birds in case of a H5 bird flu event
- safely house and care for more injured or orphaned seabirds.
This will help support larger, more resilient populations of at-risk seabirds. This includes both the Christmas Island and great frigatebird.
Supporting seabirds to recover from other threats such as injury or being orphaned will reduce compounding pressures on the island’s species. This will give them the best chance of withstanding the potential population impacts of H5 bird flu.
These facility upgrades are part of broader H5 bird flu preparedness efforts underway on Christmas Island, led by Parks Australia.
Other preparedness projects have included mapping nests of the endangered Abbott’s booby, which only breeds on the island. This is helping to guide conservation actions such as feral cat and yellow crazy ant control.
These projects are supported by the Australian Government’s $270 million commitment to tackle H5 bird flu. This includes more than $67 million for biodiversity measures.
The Australian Government is also supporting cross-border conservation efforts along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway for the Christmas Island frigatebird. This project is helping to understand and address the illegal hunting of these birds in South-East Asia. It complements Australia’s efforts to protect these threatened species.
H5 bird flu has arrived in Australia. It has not yet been detected on Christmas Island. However, further spread of the virus is not unexpected. This makes efforts to prepare for the impacts of H5 bird flu more important than ever.
