Penguins queue in Paris zoo for his or her fowl flu jabs

It regarded innocent sufficient however the seagull might pose an existential menace to the penguins with a devastating fowl flu outbreak killing tons of of tens of millions of birds the world over over the previous couple of years.

That is why 41 Humboldt penguins have been queued up close to their pool within the Paris Zoological Park on a chilly December morning initially of influenza season.

Humboldt penguins on the Paris Vincennes Zoological Park in Paris, on December 2, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

A zookeeper whispered some reassuring phrases to 1 referred to as Cissou as a veterinarian injected him together with his annual fowl flu vaccine shot.

After getting his jab, Cissou waddled off again into his enclosure.

Around 10 zoo employees took the possibility to weigh and measure the penguins, gathering feathers, taking blood samples, analyzing their ft and checking their microchips.

A Humboldt penguin is checked by medical employees earlier than vaccination. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

In a month, the younger penguins born this 12 months will get a booster shot.

The zoo, which is in Vincennes park within the east of the French capital, has by no means detected a case of fowl flu.

But it’s house to wild birds similar to crows, magpies, geese and parakeets, and an outbreak could be catastrophic for the zoo animals.

Last week French well being authorities warned this fowl flu season is already wanting like it will likely be the worst in a few years.

Decades of expertise with jab

Bird flu was detected in Antarctica for the primary time early final 12 months, inflicting concern amongst scientists in regards to the destiny of the penguins there.

Sylvie Laidebeure, a vet on the Paris zoo, instructed AFP, “these animals are typically threatened of their pure habitat” as she inserted a needle into the breast of a Humboldt penguin, that are categorized as susceptible by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

A Humboldt penguin is vaccinated (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

Laidebeure mentioned the zoo carries out a “risk-benefit ratio” earlier than vaccinating every species.

There could be issues similar to inflammatory reactions and “restraining them can be extraordinarily disturbing for the birds”, she mentioned.

The solely birds to get a jab on the zoo are people who reside open air, or in enclosures with mesh that would permit them contact with wild birds. These embrace hornbills, vultures, rheas and ostriches, marabou storks and cranes.

A Humboldt penguin is launched after vaccination towards avian influenza on the Paris Vincennes Zoological Park in Paris, on December 2, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

Though the observe stays uncommon throughout Europe, France has been vaccinating birds towards avian influenza in zoos since 2006.

That was lengthy earlier than it turned the primary European nation to vaccinate geese in farms nationwide in 2023, utilizing the identical vaccine at a distinct dosage.

That additional twenty years of expertise has led to a number of scientific publications, Laidebeure mentioned.

It additionally helped scientists find out how properly the vaccine labored on completely different species — and confirmed that it was protected and efficient.

“I believe that helped reassure folks” earlier than it was rolled out on farms, Laidebeure mentioned.