This bushfire crisis has been absolutely devastating for all facets of life in Australia. Almost 10 million hectares of land across the entire country have been reduced to charcoal. And with it – a huge amount of our beloved native animals.
More than 1 billion animals may have been killed directly or indirectly from the fires in Australia but the full extent of damage is still unknown. Read the latest and find out how you can help: https://t.co/qjwXFPHV1u pic.twitter.com/zm7CYlNEI6
— World Wildlife Fund (@World_Wildlife) January 8, 2020
University of Sydney‘s Professor Chris Dickman estimated weeks ago that 480 million animals would die in the fires. He’s now bumped that number up to one billion mammals, birds and reptiles. Which is just utterly devastating. What’s even scarier is that 800 million of those critters have been lost just in the NSW fires.
The Fires Will Probs Drive Some Species Closer To Extinction
Australia already has a bad rep when it comes to losing unique species. There were a tonne of threats to the survival of our wildlife before you chuck bushfires into the mix: invasive species, habitat loss, climate change – you name it, they’ve faced it. Our mammals in particular are something super unique to us – you certainly won’t find a kangaroo anywhere else on the planet. But even just over the past 200 years we’ve already lost 34 native mammal species (which is a hell of a lot).
Over 1 Billion Animals Feared Dead in Australia’s Wildfires.
Over 1 billion. https://t.co/4XduOmfpjS pic.twitter.com/fcyxpL0c5a
— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) January 7, 2020
The saddest part about these super intense fires that are razing our country is that even if native animals manage to find a burrow or lil nook to shelter in, once the fire passes there is absolutely nothing left. No water, no food and no shelter. So even if they escape the flames, they can’t survive for long afterwards. The estimates have been made based on data from WWF – meaning the actual death toll could be much higher.
The future of many Aussie species will be seriously impacted by the bushfire crisis. Check out our article on where to donate to support animal rescue and rehab efforts here.
Image source: Pixabay (Pexels)
