How do you vaccinate 1,000 tiny penguins against bird flu in the wild? It’s ‘really tricky’ but there is a way

Team members have been working at night to administer bird flu vaccines to the ‘difficult to handle’ little penguins on Phillip Island. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

More than 1,000 little penguins have received their first dose of bird flu vaccine in Victoria, in what is believed to be the world’s largest vaccination program involving wild birds.

Catherine Basterfield, the chief executive of Phillip Island Nature Parks, said vaccinations began early last week and were ramping up.