00:02It's a mammoth effort to save the little penguins,
00:04famous for drawing in flocks of tourists each year.
00:07This is the largest vaccination project in wildlife
00:11that has ever been undertaken.
00:14But few are shying from the monumental nature of the task ahead.
00:17This operation is not without risk.
00:19The vaccine program, unveiled by the Commonwealth yesterday,
00:22is expected to focus mostly on birds in captivity.
00:25Next week's rollout in Victoria, by contrast,
00:28will see officers catch thousands of wild penguins
00:31as they hobble back to their burrows
00:33and give them two staggered doses each.
00:35So it's an injectable vaccine
00:37and about three to four weeks between shots.
00:40For a start, they are very accustomed to people
00:42through both tourism
00:44and through a very long-term research and monitoring program.
00:47But even with success, the target of 5,000 fully vaccinated birds
00:52is well short of the Phillip Island colony
00:54of up to 40,000 and 1,600 in St Kilda.
00:59It's important to note that vaccines in themselves
01:02are not a silver bullet, but they are a really important
01:07and key targeted tool that we can use.
01:10It comes as the Melbourne Royal Show announced
01:12it would not hold poultry exhibitions or competitions this year
01:15due to the spread of the virus.
01:18Modelling from last year found up to 16,000 of Phillip Island's
01:21little penguins could be wiped out under a worst-case scenario
01:25and that vaccinating the colony after the virus had reached it
01:28would most likely be too late.
01:30It's a scenario that officials are now racing to avoid
01:33amid recent confirmation that the virus had been detected on the island.
01:36Next slide.
01:37Next slide.
01:37Next slide.
01:38You
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