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Sea World probes mysterious penguin deaths

Sea World has closed one of its most popular attractions on the Gold Coast after the mysterious deaths of 25 of its 37 penguins.

The birds became ill last Thursday and were dead by the weekend.

Department of Primary Industries (DPI) vets are conducting tests to identify a cause.

DPI chief vet Ron Glanville says fears they may have been infected with an exotic disease or avian bird flu have been ruled out.

"We have got tests ongoing and sometimes with these things, it may take a few days to get to the bottom of it and sometimes you never get to the bottom of it, depending on what the actual cause was..." he said.

"We don't believe there is any other threat to other animals at Sea World.

"At this stage, it does not appear to be an infectious cause going on, so we don't believe there is a problem in terms of threat to other animals or the public."

Sea World is investigating whether a load of gravel recently placed in the enclosure has caused the deaths.

Vets have isolated the surviving penguins.

RSPCA spokesman Michael Beattie says Sea World has a very good track record on animal protection.

"As to what happened in this particular case, it seems to be too early to say," he said.

"We hope it hasn't been a tragic mistake but if it has, hopefully it hasn't been due to any negligence.

"Sea World are into the preservation rather than extermination, so if something has happened that has been a tragic accident, I'm sure they would feel as badly as we, the RSPCA, do."




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