![](https://statik.tempo.co/data/2011/11/10/id_96321/96321_620.jpg)
TEMPO.CO, London – Dr. Allison N. Wack, a veterinarian at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, malaria has become the main cause of penguins mortality.
"If left untreated, the disease would probably kill at least 50 percent of the infrected birds," she said.
Penguins, especially those in quarantine, are facing greater risks of being infected with malaria. As a result, many zoos have administered malaria pills in an effort to prevent malaria infection.
Dr. Richard Feachem, Director of Global Health at the University of California, San Francisco, informed that in 2012, six Humboldt penguins in the London Zoo died of malaria.
According to Christine Sheppard, a former chief of ornithology at the Bronx Zoo, most bird species have developed a natural resistance against malaria.
"However, penguins seems to have a problem [with its natural resistance]," she said.
NEW YORK TIMES | TRIP B