First endangered Australian sea lion dies from bird flu on Kangaroo Island

The first endangered sea lion on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island has died from bird flu.

With no vaccine available, the state government is scrambling to import one being trialled in Hawaii in an effort to protect the spices from an extinction level outbreak.

Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly said the news was "not unexpected".

"We've been waiting for something like this to happen," he said.

An endangered Australian sea lion died at the colony's key breeding ground at Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island.

While a little penguin has also died at Victor Harbor.

"The Australian Sea Lion is the rarest seal found in our Australian waters [and] 85 per cent of the population is found here in South Australia," SA Environment Minister Emily Bourke said.

The Sea Lion was found injured and dying from bird flu.

"This particular seal had already been attacked by a shark and was suffering from a shark attack already," Bourke said.

"But also we found that it was actually not the shark attack that killed the actual Sea Lion."

Authorities are now desperately trying to avoid situations like Heard Island near Antarctica, where mass death events have occurred in seals.

"We've seen Heard Island, a reduction in the population there for seal pups by 75 per cent," Burke said.

There is currently no approved bird flu vaccine for sea lions but the State Government is pushing its federal counterparts to import a vaccine being trialled on endangered Hawaiian monk seals, which, it says, is showing some positive results.

“The cost isn’t the factor here, it’s the ability to get it into the country and go through that rigorous process,” Bourke said.