Bird flu kills dozens of elephant seal pups at California state park

About 30 seals had died as of Thursday, nearly all of them weaned pups, amid the rise of avian influenza

An outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu has killed more than two dozen elephant seal pups in California, leading to the temporary closure of seal-viewing areas at a popular Bay Area park.

California's Ano Nuevo state park is home to an elephant seal colony with about 5,000 seals during the marine mammals' breeding season, which runs from mid-December through March. Researchers said about 30 seals had died as of Thursday, nearly all of them weaned pups, amid the rise of avian influenza.