Bird flu kills 13,000 seal pups on remote Australian island

Lying 4,000 kilometres southwest of mainland Australia, the sub-Antarctic and volcanic Heard and McDonald Islands are fearsomely wild and a key breeding colony for elephant seals. (Photo: AFP)

SYDNEY - A pathogenic strain of bird flu killed more than 13,000 elephant seal pups after infecting a breeding colony on a sub-Antarctic volcanic island, Australian scientists said on Thursday.

Researchers found the remote Heard and McDonald Islands littered with seal carcasses when they arrived on a research expedition in October 2025.