Disease outbreaks among penguins at sub-Antarctic Marion Island: a conservation concern

Abstract

In 1992 and 1993, unknown diseases killed 250–300 King Penguins Aptenodytes patagonicus and an estimated 5–10 thousand Macaroni Penguins Eudyptes chrysolophus at sub-Antarctic Marion Island. At the same island, an outbreak of avian cholera Pasteurella multocida during November 2004 killed approximately 2000 Macaroni Penguins at Kildalkey Bay. Other breeding colonies of Macaroni Penguins and other species of seabirds at the island were not affected at the time. Procedures for reporting and dealing with such outbreaks are now being developed.