Wildlife

Penguin Fatalities

Namibia’s first bird flu outbreak on record has killed more than 500 endangered African penguins at one colony near Lüderitz, and scientists fear the pathogen could spread to other colonies or even other species.

The Lüderitz Maritime Research Group noted on social media that most of the fatalities, which began to emerge in mid-December, were near a muddy patch adjoining the colony.

Because the H5N8 strain of avian influenza can survive for weeks in a wet environment, officials dispatched crews to spread buckets of salt over the mud in an attempt to curb infections. Penguin carcasses are being collected and burned. It is unknown how the virus arrived in Namibia.