The Australian Bushfires

[Lisbeth]

Nearly half a billion animals have been killed in Australia's devastating bushfires

Kelly McLaughlin , Business Insider US | Jan 02, 2020, 09:43 PM


Female koala Anwen recovering from burns at The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital on November 29, 2019 in Port Macquarie, Australia. (Photo by Nathan Edwards/Getty Images)

- Ecologists at the University of Sydney told News.com.au that an estimated 480 million mammals, birds, and reptiles, have died in the bushfires sweeping Australia.

- thousand of the animals deaths are believed to be koalas, The Independent reported. Federal environment minister Sussan Ley told ABC Radio on Friday that up to 30% of koalas in New South Wales have been killed by the fires.

- As of Thursday morning, more than 130 fires were burning in New South Wales and Victoria. The fires have razed more than 9.9 million acres across five states.

- At least 18 people have died as a result of the bushfires. Some 1,400 homes have been destroyed.

Nearly half a billion animals are believed to be dead in the bushfires still spreading across Australia.

Ecologists at the University of Sydney told News.com.au that an estimated 480 million mammals, birds, and reptiles have died in the bushfires, which have been burning across Australia since September. Eight thousand of the animals deaths are believed to be koalas, The Independent reported.

As of Thursday morning, more than 130 fires were burning in New South Wales and Victoria. The fires have razed more than 9.9 million acres across five states. At least 18 people have died as a result of the bushfires. Some 1,400 homes have been destroyed.

Animals living in the regions include koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, possums, wombats, and echidnas.

Tracy Burgess, a volunteer at Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Services, told Reuters that rescuers aren't receiving as many animal patients as expected, which is cause for concern.

"Our concern is that they don't come into care because they're not there anymore, basically," she said.

Rescuers across the country have shared videos and photos of burned and dehydrated animals being cared for and fed by local residents.

Federal environment minister Sussan Ley told ABC Radio on Friday that up to 30% of koalas in New South Wales have been killed by the fires.

Nature Conservation Council ecologist Mark Graham told parliament in December that koalas can't move fast enough to escape the fires. Koalas also eat leaves from eucalyptus trees, which are highly flammable.

"The fires have burned so hot and so fast that there has been significant mortality of animals in the trees, but there is such a big area now that is still on fire and still burning that we will probably never find the bodies," he said, according to The Independent.

Food and fuel are running out in remote areas of southeastern Australia as the fires rage on. Weather conditions are expected to worsen through the week.

[Richprins]

[Flutterby]

Tragic!!

[Lisbeth]

Australia wildfires: Koala 'insurance population' halved by bushfires

2020-01-05 17:03 - AFP

Sydney – At least half of Australia's only disease-free koala population, a key "insurance" for the species' future, is feared dead with more badly hurt after bushfires swept through an island sanctuary, rescuers said on Sunday.

Kangaroo Island, a popular nature-based tourist attraction off the coast of South Australia state, is home to many wild populations of native animals including the much-loved koala, where the populated was estimated at 50 000.

Massive bushfires have flared up in the vast country's southeast in a months-long crisis, killing nearly half a billion native animals in New South Wales state alone, scientists estimate. Conditions have been particularly severe in recent days, with an ongoing blaze on Kangaroo Island spreading rapidly and razing 170 000 hectares – one-third of the island – on Friday.

"Over 50% (of the population) has been lost," Sam Mitchell of Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, which is raising funds to care for the injured koalas, told AFP. "Injuries are extreme. Others have been left with no habitat to go back to, so starvation will be an issue in coming weeks."

One of the biggest tragedies since 1800s

A University of Adelaide study published in July found that the Kangaroo Island koala species is particularly important to the survival of the wider population as it is the only large group free from chlamydia.

The bacterial infection – which causes blindness, infertility and death in the species – is widespread in koalas in the eastern Queensland and New South Wales states and also occurs in Victoria state.

"They are an insurance population for the whole population," the University of Adelaide's Jessica Fabijan, who carried out the study, told AFP. "These fires have ravaged the population."

Fabijan said massive bushfires in New South Wales and Victoria's Gippsland region, home to major koala populations, is also expected to have killed many animals.

"It's one of the biggest tragedies for the population since the late 1800s when they used to hunt them for their fur," she added.

Habitat loss, dog attacks, car strikes and climate change have already led to a sharp decline in the furry marsupial's population, which is believed to have numbered more than 10 million prior to European settlement of the continent in 1788.

The koalas cannot be removed from the island due to their chlamydia-free status, the state government said, adding that veterinarians were rescuing and treating the injured animals on-site.

[Lisbeth]

Wildlife ravaged by Australia fires could take decades to recover

2020-01-04 14:54 - AFP

The bushfires raging across Australia have had a devastating impact on the country's unique flora and fauna, with some estimates putting the death toll at nearly half a billion animals in one state alone, and experts believe it could take decades for wildlife to recover.

Unprecedented temperatures across the continent have made this season's fires particularly deadly, killing at least 20 people and bringing apocalyptic scenes to an area roughly twice the size of Belgium.

The crisis has focused attention on climate change, which scientists say is creating a longer and more intense bushfire season, and the Australian government has faced widespread criticism over its response and wider environmental policy.

Harrowing footage of desperate koalas drinking from water bottles handed to them by rescuers and kangaroos standing helpless in fire-ravaged towns and charred forests have shocked people across the world.

There is some hope, however, as experts believe scorched forests can recover in time, and decimated populations of koalas, kangaroos and other badly affected species may be able to return.

'Higher than 480 million'

A University of Sydney study estimates that 480 million animals have been killed in just the state of New South Wales (NSW) since September 2019, and according to a statement released Friday the authors said the "highly conservative" mortality calculations could mean the toll could be "substantially higher".

In order to reach the figure, the researchers cross-referenced estimates of mammal population density in NSW with areas of vegetation known to have been scorched to work out the death toll, which includes mammals, birds and reptiles, but not insects, bats or frogs.

"The true loss of animal life is likely to be much higher than 480 million," the statement said.

"NSW's wildlife is seriously threatened and under increasing pressure from a range of threats, including land clearing, exotic pests and climate change."

Professor Andrew Beattie from Macquarie University near Sydney told AFP he believes the death toll of animals nationwide could be in the billions, "if you think of mammals, and birds, and reptiles, amphibians and say the larger insects such as butterflies".

"We can be pretty sure that in large parts of these very expansive fires, most of the wildlife will be dead," the emeritus professor from the department of biological sciences said.

Koala populations have been hit particularly hard because they live in trees, feed only on certain types of eucalypts and cannot move quickly enough away from the flames.

'Lamentably slow' reaction

Asked if there was hope for the repopulation of animals in the worst-hit areas, Beattie said it depends on factors including rainfall, climate and logging, and it could take up to 40 years for habitats to return to normal.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison's handling of the crisis has provoked fury in Australia and further afield, and Beattie said the response, particularly from the federal government, has been "lamentably slow and their attitude is still lamentably casual".

"You've got federal politicians with very little knowledge of the environment, which is, as we are now discovering 'the real world', and hence have not perceived the oncoming catastrophes.

[Richprins]

[graham]

I can't help but wonder, that if the politicians had "perceived the oncoming catastrophes", whether anyone would have taken any notice. This is a wake-up call for the whole world and a very costly one for Australia.

[Richprins]

Not sure exactly what one can do, though?

[Lisbeth]

There has always been bushfires in Australia, but nothing like this It has grown little by little until it has grown out of control....completely. I am not sure if this catastrophe could have been foreseen in any way; strong winds and high temperatures has also played an important part.

[Richprins]

Ja, it is a global warming thing. So what to do?

The staggering size of the fires is incredible, and all that carbon goes back into the atmosphere as well.