Exmoor Zoo penguin deaths may be malaria

All the penguins at Exmoor Zoo died over the past two weeks

The deaths of every penguin at a zoo may have been caused by a disease spread by migratory birds.

Ten birds died at Exmoor Zoo over the course of two weeks.

It is suspected the birds, some of which had lived at the zoo for more than 20 years, died of avian malaria. Post-mortems have been "inconclusive".

Curator Danny Reynolds said: "The migrant birds bring it over, and because the penguins have grown up in a coastal environment they can't cope."

More on penguin deaths, and news from Devon and Cornwall.

Internal investigations are ongoing, with blood and tissue samples still under examination.

Mr Reynolds said that, after the first death, zoo staff suspected a fungal disease may have been the cause but it later emerged something more serious was affecting the birds.

He added: "Had we realised early on, we may have been able to administer anti-malarial drugs.

"For those who hadn't already contracted the malaria, it may have saved them."