## Early Morning Vigilance in Australia's Remote North

It is early morning on a remote Northern Territory beach, but the heat and humidity are already stifling.

As the sun rises, a group of Indigenous rangers and a government veterinarian have their eyes fixed on the ground.

They are carrying out one of the most important **biosecurity jobs** in Australia — they are looking for fresh, juicy bird poos.

![Two Aboriginal rangers and a government vet smile in the bush](https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/1991a33286b905ba0df9d0d2643eeda5?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=2016&cropW=3024&xPos=0&yPos=482&width=862&height=575)

*Bulgul rangers Paige McLeod (left) and Brendan Morgan Armstrong with veterinary officer Fiona Knox. (ABC Rural: Fiona Broom)*

## Global Bird Flu Threat

The devastating **H5N1 bird flu** has spread to almost every corner of the world — including Antarctica.

It has killed wild animals, hundreds of millions of commercial poultry, and even infected dairy herds in the United States.

But it has not yet been detected in Australia.

![Bulgul badge](https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/09965e386317faa675ff9fa80334f082?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=2016&cropW=3024&xPos=0&yPos=827&width=862&height=575)

*The Bulgul Land and Sea Rangers manage 36,000 hectares of country across the Delissavale/Wagait/Larrakia Land Trust. (ABC Rural: Fiona Broom)*

Farmers want to keep it that way, because the arrival of H5N1 could decimate Australia's multi-billion-dollar **chicken meat and egg industries**.

And while H5N1 could arrive in Australia through a range of routes, **migratory birds are a key risk pathway**.

## Rangers Watching the North

On the shores of the Timor Sea, Paige McLeod and her fellow Bulgul rangers go out early in the morning to get the best samples from the wild birds' poo.

> "The UV rays degrade the samples, so it's usually around 7 o'clock in the morning when the sun is starting to come up," Ms McLeod said.

"The tide's slowly going out, and all the birds are just here."

This time of year, birds that have been out in the world — mixing with potentially infected wildlife — are arriving on Australia's shores and wetlands.

It is a big task, searching for signs of bird flu among the estimated **2 million migratory birds** that will land across the north.

Veterinary officer Fiona Knox, from the Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy, says the work of **Indigenous rangers is vital**.

"The area of northern Australia is absolutely vast. We're talking about very remote areas," said Dr Knox.

"You can see today there's lots of shorebirds, without the team of rangers here collecting the samples, we wouldn't be covering this country.

"It just forms another opportunity to increase our surveillance for bird flu."

![A bird poo on a beach with a medical swab](https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/2ad11d0f81842b91e7dc8ed923f9a6e9?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=2016&cropW=3024&xPos=0&yPos=396&width=862&height=575)

*Freshly laid migratory bird poos get swabbed for traces of H5N1 avian influenza. (ABC Rural: Fiona Broom)*

## Keeping Eggs on the Shelves

It has been decades since the last commercial poultry farm closed its gates in the Northern Territory.

Western Australia's chicken industries operate in the south-west, while Queensland's large-scale chicken and egg farms are mostly in the south-east.

But it is the **rangers in northern Australia who are on the bird flu frontline**.

Outbreaks of local strains of bird flu in 2024 led to widespread **egg shortages**, as about 10 per cent of Australia's laying hens died or were killed.

Poultry farmers say H5N1 would be even more devastating for their industries.

Armed with a swabbing kit similar to a COVID PCR test, Ms McLeod gently rolls a cotton swab in a poo and breaks off the tip in a plastic tube.

The samples will then be sent to a government lab in Darwin for testing.

![A hand in a black glove holds a clear plastic tube with a swab in it](https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/75a5d1c66c546a1ea39ccbfeda4829e7?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=2016&cropW=3024&xPos=0&yPos=636&width=862&height=575)

*The tests are designed to withstand heat before reaching the lab. (ABC Rural: Fiona Broom)*

It is a task that Ms McLeod takes seriously.

"Honestly, at first I didn't know what we were doing … but as time went on, I've realised, yeah, this is pretty important," she said.

> "If we do end up getting positives [samples], we'd know if the bird flu did end up getting into Australia."

And while Ms McLeod is keen to help protect farmers down south, she is also concerned about local wildlife.

Iconic local birds like the **magpie goose** hold great cultural significance across the north.

![Magpie Goose](https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/2e55a3ebc77293adbf6ae72e31773ede?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=1365&cropW=2046&xPos=1&yPos=0&width=862&height=575)

*It is magpie goose season in the Top End. (Geoff Whalan/flickr.com)*

They are also important food sources for remote and traditional communities.

"If [bird flu] does end up getting into the magpie geese, the population would probably drop," Ms McLeod said.

"And that would mean hunting them would probably be a no-go."

Hundreds of kilometres from the nearest supermarket, Indigenous rangers in Australia's remote north are working to keep eggs on your breakfast table.

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