Hundreds of dead pelicans found in outback NSW, bird flu ruled out

The cause of the deaths of hundreds of pelicans in outback New South Wales is unclear, but bird flu has been ruled out.

Ecologist Damien Cook was kayaking at the Menindee Lakes earlier this month when he spotted about 400 dead baby and juvenile pelicans at Lake Cawndilla.

"It's not really what you want to see on your holiday," he said.

"I'm an ecologist because I love nature and birds and things, and I felt sick in my stomach.

"There were basically piles of young pelicans that looked like they'd been standing around in little creches and all of a sudden just collapsed on each other, like they died quite quickly."

Samples taken from the birds revealed they did not have H5N1 avian influenza, for which a total of five birds have tested positive in NSW.

Most were found in coastal areas, but one bird was found inland near Wentworth, 260 kilometres south of Broken Hill.

Investigation underway

NSW Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Rhys Powell said it was a relief to confirm the 400 dead birds discovered by Mr Cook were not infected.

"The cause of the deaths will be investigated over the next week or fortnight," he said.

"Obviously it set some alarm bells ringing for us and we kicked into gear to eliminate that as our first priority."

Dr Powell said it could take weeks to establish the cause of the deaths.

"It's a bit too hard to say 'depending', because it depends what diseases we need to exclude," he said.

"Some tests have a very long lead time and botulism is one of those where it can take three to four weeks to get a diagnosis.

"We'll arrange for a local veterinarian to go out and conduct some post-mortems and look inside the animals, just to see if there's any markers of disease."

Birdlife Australia's wetland and migratory shorebird project manager Chris Purnell said it was a relief to rule out H5 as the cause of death, but he was still concerned about the earlier positive detection at Wentworth and the risk of the virus spreading further west.

'Just another threat'

Mr Cook said native species were facing various threats before the spread of H5N1 and whatever killed the birds in Menindee Lakes.

"Birds already are contending with climate change, they're already contending with habitat loss, so I suppose it's just another threat coming in at them," he said.

There have been 236 confirmed cases of H5N1 in all six states since the virus arrived in Australia.

The federal government is rolling out a vaccine against the deadly flu.

States and territories will decide what species to target for vaccination.

Wild birds will not be prioritised because two vaccine doses are required.

Authorities are reminding people who come across dead or sick birds to avoid contact with them.

People are urged to take note of the location and, if possible, take photos.

Sightings should be reported to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.