Avian Malaria Suspected in Death of Senior Penguin

Once again, mosquitoes have ruined our summer. On Tuesday, one of the older penguins at Woodland Park Zoo died of avian malaria, the vets think, which relies on mosquitoes to do its dirty work (it's not transmissible penguin-to-penguin or penguin-to-human).

And in fact it turns out that the penguin that died earlier this month, after eating some sealant, also had avian malaria. It's now thought that the malaria could have contributed to its death.

Three other penguins are showing symptoms and are being treated, though there is no vaccine. The late Burkles, previously a San Diego resident, was 21 years old. Life expectancy of a penguin in the wild is about 20 years.