The state’s bird emblem is an indicator species for H5N1, with high visibility populations and low survival rates. Experts are warning of ‘significant mortality’

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Narelle TowieSat 22 Aug 2026 16.00 EDTShare15

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When the black swans start dying, Western Australians will know that bird flu has truly arrived.

The birds are an “indicator species” because once they are infected with the H5N1 virus, they are more likely to die than survive, according to the University of Queensland virologist Kirsty Short.

“If avian influenza gets into a place where there are black swans … then I think we will see swan mortality and if there’s a significant number of swans, significant mortality.”

WA’s black swans are deeply woven into its identity. As the state’s official bird emblem, the species is emblazoned on buildings, stamps, the flag and the coat of arms.

Now the bird that has come to define the west is facing devastating consequences.

Unlike many birds, black swans lack a key immune protein involved in recognising viral infections, a difference that may leave them vulnerable to a killer inflammatory response.

The species has been ranked as “very high risk” of becoming infected with the virus, according to a commonwealth national risk assessment.

Experts don’t yet know how black swans will respond to living with a virus that, once established, is expected to circulate and evolve in wild bird populations.

‘Potential’ to lose entire populations

Black swans live in both coastal and inland freshwater areas and can form large colonies when breeding. An infected bird could cause an entire colony to die out, the ornithologist Floyd Holmes from Phoenix Environmental Sciences says.

“It is not likely to wipe out all of the swans, but for any local groups of swans, particularly in the south-west, that all congregate and breed in a single place, the potential to just lose that entire population all at once is definitely there,” Holmes says.

“It would be pretty devastating for that local area.”Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email

South Australia, where the virus was first reported, has already reported three mass mortality events involving more than 1,000 greater crested terns. Holmes says the public is also more likely to notice the impacts on black swans because the birds are so large and distinctive.

Nine weeks after a migratory bird brought H5N1 to WA shores – and five years after this variant of the virus reached North America – the WA government says it is now testing the vaccine in five endangered black cockatoos at Perth zoo.

“The feasibility of vaccination in black swans is being explored,” the WA environment minister, Matthew Swinbourn, says. “This is just one tool in the fight against the disease.”

The federal agriculture minister, Julie Collins, says the government has spent $113m on bird flu preparedness, including purchasing $2m worth of vaccine to protect captive populations of priority species.

The vaccine is produced by US animal health company Zoetis and was originally designed for use in chickens. It is not registered for use in wildlife and would need to be assessed before its use can be extended to native birds, Swinbourn says.

The government was tight-lipped about the strength of evidence that the vaccine will work in native species.

“The vaccination rollout led by states and territories has commenced and will continue across the country in the coming weeks and months,” a Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry spokesperson says.

Birds require two doses of the vaccine, weeks apart, so it is not feasible to vaccinate most wild populations, experts say. Efforts have begun to vaccinate 5,000 little penguins in wild colonies in Victoria, a process only considered possible because the colonies are well-studied, used to humans and return to the same burrows every night.

Short says until now, there has been a lack of investment in research to understand what avian influenza and avian vaccines do in native species.

“There were some studies that were done vaccinating different birds in a zoo with a H5N1 vaccine, and they found that parrots didn’t mount a very good antibody response for some reason,” Short says.

“So there are obviously species-dependent variations, and I think we really should have invested in understanding what this virus means specifically for Australia.”

Birds already under threat

The BirdLife Australia waterbird ecologist Lindall Kidd says WA is now playing catch up after much of its bird flu preparedness funding was directed towards agriculture.

“Our birds are already under pressure from habitat loss through land clearing and climate change, we could be looking at death by a thousand cuts,” she says.

“There was a known gap in preparedness prior to the bird flu incursion, and we did not have enough plans in place especially for some of our more common, widely spread species. They are the ones in our urban areas, like pelicans and swans,” Kidd says.

She says the psychosocial effect of losing large numbers of swans will be “massive”.

For the Noongar people of south-west WA, the black swan is called Maarli or Kuljak and it carries a totemic significance that predates its adoption as a state symbol, according to Murdoch University Noongar researcher Glen Stasiuk.

“With connections to brotherhood and the seasons, it is a very important bird,” Stasiuk says.

While the future of WA’s bird emblem remains unknown, Holmes puts the possibilities simply.

“Option one is they develop an immunity to the virus, option two is that the virus doesn’t end up reaching all of them, or option three is we lose them all,” Holmes says.

“I suspect that the number of swans is going to go down. Hopefully it doesn’t reach zero. I don’t think it will, but I guess time will tell.”

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Wolves Lose at MT Commission Hearing

Apologies for not updating you sooner about the August 19, 2026, Montana Fish & Wildlife Commission meeting. After another exhausting day in Helena, I needed time to process everything. These meetings have been particularly tough over the past six years, especially as proposals and amendments often change for the worse, and commenters only get a minute or two. That limited time makes it more challenging to cover all the wolf and furbearer proposals, including bobcats, otters, beavers, trap setback removals, wolves, and several amendments—leaving me with only seconds for each.

Despite the pressure, I tried to address the main proposals since they’re all important to Trap Free Montana. If time had permitted, I would have refined my remarks on wolves to focus more directly on the central issue. Meanwhile, several participants, both in-person and joining via Zoom, presented compelling and well-articulated comments regarding the wolf proposals.

Yet, rather than exercising caution, the commission chose to increase the department’s proposed wolf quota by an additional 50 wolves. Despite Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) openly admitting uncertainty about the current wolf population—and even acknowledging that their estimates may have been inflated by as much as 34% over the years—the commission disregarded these warnings and opted against a more conservative approach.

For years, FWP has said we have ~ 1,100 wolves, “a stable population”, but that was based on a critically flawed population model, IPOM. Recently, with a mere tweak of the software, forming IPOM2.0, they claim Montana may only have 618 – 836 wolves left. The point is, no one knows, but we have suspected for years that there are far less wolves.

FWP’s response was a proposed reduction to a 250-quota for the 2026/2027 Montana wolf season, after a 458-quota last season which claimed the lives of a reported 247 wolves. The general public saw this quota change as a win for wolves, but it is nothing close to that.

During the public meeting, Region 1 Commissioner Wargo’s amendment was discussed that had arrived just days before. He proposed regional quotas bringing the total quota to 317 wolves.  Commissioners opposed and new numbers for regions were quickly inserted, i.e. Region 1 with a high wolf quota of 131, whereas last year 98 wolves were reported killed by hunters and trappers, and a 92 quota for Region 2, likewise well over previous years kills. Region 3 Commissioner Brooke managed to get a reduced quota of 33 wolves in her region where it is easier to shoot wolves and her amendment passed that reduces individual hunting quotas to 5 wolves in Region 3. Elsewhere, individuals can kill 10 wolves by hunting and 10 by trapping/snaring.

Region 4 was assigned a quota of 28 wolves, almost double their average reported kills. Region 5 now has a quota of 6 and Region 6 and 7 each have quotas of 4 wolves. It is seriously doubtful the Commissioners took a look at past kill reports. Honestly, it was if they pulled them out of a hat to come up and quickly with what seemed a goal of a 300-wolf quota. 

Together, we achieved two genuine victories: both units 313 and 316, bordering Yellowstone, were restored to a quota of just one wolf each thanks to Region 4 Vice Chair Walsh’s amendment. Additionally, the commission rejected Commissioner Wargo’s proposal to extend the wolf hunting season by three months—until June 15—which would have resulted in a nine-month season and permitted the killing of newborn and dependent wolf pups in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

As a result, the total wolf quota for the 2026/2027 season stands at 300. 

After 2 hours of public commenting in person and over zoom, with wolf advocates dominating, Commissioner Wargo, said nothing that was said that was going to change anything. 

What went largely unaddressed during the nearly five-hour public meeting on wolves was the broader context of wolf mortality in Montana. According to FWP, beyond the reported wolves killed by hunters and trappers, an average of 55-additional wolves are documented who die each year due to poaching, vehicle and train collisions, incidental deaths, natural causes, unknown factors, landowner actions, and for livestock. FWP is certain that even more wolves perish annually, underscoring the broader impact that isn’t fully captured by official quotas alone. Yet, therein has lied the focus… quotas. Furthermore, the commission approved 15 wolves total for landowners under SB200, and who can collect $1,000 – $1,500 bounties per wolf, plus no limit, and no commission monitoring of wolves killed by federal officials, i.e. Wildlife Services, FWP, etc.

Therefore, if a mid-point from an uncertain, not peer-reviewed, population model, IPOM2.0, guestimates only 725 wolves are left in Montana and a quota of 300 is hit plus the average 55, that would be a 49% reduction and leave ~ 370 wolves left, falling below the arbitrary 450-wolf population floor, some believe is the ceiling, for Montana’s wolf management goal.

Even if the average known mortalities combined over the last 5-years of 272 wolves shot/trapped and 55 killed from other causes, that results in 327 wolves dead from the population, which is 45% of the ~ 725.

Ultimately, the number of wolves remaining in Montana is unknown, yet fewer wolves are being reported killed even as relentless efforts, with multiple means of unfair chase, to reduce their numbers persist. Unfortunately, the choices made by the commission have only exacerbated the challenges facing the species. Notably, scientific consensus warns that reducing the wolf population by more than 29% jeopardizes their long-term viability, underscoring the urgent need for more responsible management practices.

MEDIA Links:

‘Split the difference’: Fish & Wildlife Commission sets Montana wolf harvest quota. 

Despite overwhelming public oppostion, Montana FWC approves killing 300 wolves.

Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approve lower wolf quota.

 

By and large bobcats also lost:

Region 1 bobcat quota: instead of being reduced to 175, Wargo’s amendment passed keeping the quota at 200 and despite the biologists saying even last year that the quota needed to be reduced to 175 because of the continuing declining bobcat population in NW Montana after years of trapper overkill.

Region 5 bobcats: FWP proposed an increase quota from 50 to 75. The Commission decided it is better to try and kill 100 bobcats, likely because their fur value has greatly increased again.

Region 7 bobcats: proposal to reduce the 600 quota to 300 passed. They have rarely ever hit 300 and that was from years ago.

Otter Region 5: quota increased from 4 to 8, even though they went over quota last year. This is a common response to simply allow more killing.

Removal of Trap Setbacks Passed in Lincoln and more in Sanders counties. Thereby, increasing the public safety threat.

Halting beaver and otter trapping temporarily in beaver translocation areas: Passed. However, they did not include muskrat, despite our request.

Again, friends, this is why we have felt litigation has become our best option.

There are some court cases Trap Free Montana are involved with and some are progressing.
Stay Tuned.
 

Lastly, a well-done enlightening film on the history of wolves is showing in Bozeman on August 29th!
We were privy to seeing the film before it aired, publicly, and it is well-worth it!
 

Thank you’s will be going out this coming week for the wonderful donations and please know we truly value our monthly contributors, too!

It was great seeing some diehard wolf advocates, especially those who made the journey!

  Thank you!

KC York, president, founder and on behalf of the board of directors.

DONATIONS are tax-deductible to Trap Free Montana and are greatly appreciated.

Trap Free Montana was established in 2016 as a 501(c)3.
Our mission is: Connecting hearts and minds through the best available science, truths in trapping, and compassion for the plight of wildlife, and promoting biodiversity, respectful coexistence, responsible stewardship, and trap free Montana public lands.
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