Twenty five penguins have died from a mystery illness at an Australian marine theme park popular with tourists, authorities said on Wednesday. The penguins fell ill last Thursday at Seaworld in tropical Queensland state and were all dead by the weekend, prompting government officials to launch an inquiry into the deaths.

Queensland primary industry officials said fears that the penguins may have died from an exotic disease or avian bird flu had been ruled out. "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," said Ron Glanville, Queensland department of primary industry chief veterinarian. Twelve remaining sick penguins have been isolated so that tests can be carried out.
(Planet Ark, 15/03/2007)