Australia has recorded its first confirmed death of a little penguin from H5 bird flu on Phillip Island (a coastal island off Victoria, home to the world's largest little penguin colony of around 40,000 birds and a major tourist destination). The Victorian government announced it will begin an emergency vaccination programme on Monday, launching what it describes as the world's largest H5 bird flu vaccination effort for wild birds, targeting up to 5,000 penguins across Phillip Island and Melbourne's St Kilda beach. The confirmation has heightened fears of mass casualties among the beloved species, with wildlife ecologists urging governments to deploy all available resources, as further H5 detections have also been recorded in greater crested terns at multiple sites across Victoria and New South Wales.