First case of bird flu in endangered Australian sea lion confirmed – as it happened | Australia news | The Guardian

Lisa Cox

South Australia has confirmed its first H5 bird flu case in an endangered Australian sea lion.

The sea lion was found dead by a state government ranger at Seal Bay at Kangaroo Island on Friday.

The animal had sustained a shark wound three months prior and was already being monitored. The government said it was confident the shark wound was not the cause of death and tests had returned a strong positive result for H5 bird flu.

The government said there had been no other known endangered sea lion deaths at seal bay but it was monitoring the population closely.

Seal Bay has an estimated 800 resident Australian sea lions, the third largest single colony for the species and about 5% of the total population. About three quarters of Australia’s sea lion population lives in South Australia.

Scientists had warned of the potential “carnage” in the Australian sea lion population if bird flu takes hold, after the virus had already impacted seal populations in South America and sub-Antarctica.

SA confirmed Australia’s first case in a mainland mammal in August after a dead long-nosed fur seal found at Beachport on the Limestone Coast tested positive for H5N1.

John Woinarski, a leading mammal scientist at Charles Darwin University, said at the time he feared the virus could quickly start affecting more seals and sea lions.

“The carnage may be substantial and represent a serious conservation impact,” he said.

“I fear for Australian sea lions in particular because of their small population size.”

Friday September 11, 2026

Evan Quarnstrom

Senior Writer

California Wildlife Authorities Punished Two Crab Fishermen for Littering Dozens of Traps

Staff

Leaving crab traps in the ocean not only starves crabs to death, but it can harm other wildlife. Photo: California Department of Fish and Wildlife//Facebook

The California Fish and Game Commission revoked the commercial fishing licenses of two Dungeness crab fishermen for purposefully abandoning dozens of crab traps in Northern California waters, among other offenses. The commission acted on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recommendations and publicly named and shamed the two fishermen — Darryl Donovan, 66, of Gilroy; and Terry Groat, 60, of Crescent City.

In Donovan’s case, the Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Enforcement District and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Humboldt Bay investigated abandoned traps near the Klamath River in Del Norte County after the 2023-2024 season. They found that Donovan had abandoned 107 crab traps, as well as failing to “service traps in the required 96 hours and submit mandatory fishing reports, and fishing with untagged and improperly marked buoys.”

In Groat’s case, officers discovered that he had left 87 traps near the Smith River in Del Norte County. They also wrote him up for not servicing the traps, not tagging buoys, not submitting required reports, and killing hundreds of crabs.

In a comment on the department’s Facebook post, Dave Groat, claiming to be the brother of Terry Groat, said his brother couldn’t retrieve the traps because his boat broke down and he’s diabetic.

According to the California Commercial Fishing Digest, it’s prohibited to leave crab buoys, traps, or lines in the water after the end of the Dungeness crab fishing season. They need to be removed from the water by 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the season, which, on the northern coast of California, is July 30.

“Those who abandon traps not only endanger marine mammals and other wildlife that can become trapped or entangled in derelict gear, but they can also cause shortened fishing seasons for law-abiding fishers who depend on those opportunities for their livelihood,” the Department of Fish and Wildlife said. “Whether it’s hunting, recreational fishing or commercial fishing, the privilege to harvest California’s fish and wildlife requires a high degree of mutual trust between the public and law enforcement.”

Pete Thomas

For The Win

Famous Yellowstone wolf in peril as Wyoming hunting season looms

Updated Sept. 11, 2026, 6:51 p.m. ET

*UPDATE: Yellowstone Wolf Project Leader Dan Stahler told WyoFile late Tuesday (Sept. 11) that the Mollie’s Pack has “mostly been back in the park, and that includes the pups.” If that holds true, these wolves will be off-limits to hunters.

When wolf hunting begins Sept. 15 in Wyoming, at least two hunters will be targeting a famous wolf whose pack has a storied history inside Yellowstone National Park, dating to 1995.

The 12-year-old matriarch of the Mollie’s Pack is cataloged as Wolf 1090F. The pack relocated east of Yellowstone in late spring, inside the Shoshone National Forest and beyond the protection of park boundaries.

The pack denned within Wolf Hunt Area 1. In Wolf Hunt Area 1 and 2, the combined quota is four wolves.

As we reported last month, a hunter from Texas declared via social media that he’d be in Wyoming for opening day and that “the matriarch 1090F is going down.”

More recently, a hunter from Big Piney, Wyo., was quoted by the Cowboy State Daily as saying, “If I see her, I’ll harvest her.”

Advocacy groups have tried to persuade Wyoming to cancel hunting in Wolf Hunt Area 1, so far to no avail. But the advocacy will continue even after the start of the season.

The Mollie’s Pack, originally named the Crystal Creek Pack, was renamed in 2000 in honor of Mollie Beattie, who as director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service oversaw the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone in 1995.

Beattie died of brain cancer, at age 49, in 1996.