Australia’s ferocious bushfires have taken a devastating toll on the nation’s iconic wildlife, with experts warning that some species may be pushed to extinction.
So far, the fires have burnt around 10 million hectares of precious bush, forest and parks, and killed an estimated 1.25 billion animals.
On Friday, details of a leaked report published by The Age revealed that some species were likely to already be extinct.
“It’s a disastrous situation,” Wildlife Victoria chief executive Megan Davidson told The New Daily.
With fires still raging it’s too early to tell what the final damage will be, but it is clear that many of the nation’s most vulnerable native animals have been “very badly impacted”, she said.
“These fires are incredibly intense and fast-moving, so most animals (birds, mammals and reptiles) will be killed in the fires,” Dr Davidson explained.
“There will be another group who managed to flee – and might have emerged from underground too early – who will be injured. The first priority is to find those animals and humanely euthanise them.”
However, it is still too dangerous for wildlife rescuers to access many affected areas.
“Where we expect to see animals being brought in for rehabilitation is on the fringes of the fire-ground,” Dr Davidson said.
“The fire-grounds are very dangerous places, so there are a lot of restrictions going on there at the moment.”
Habitat loss puts wildlife at risk
Even after the threat of fire is gone, animals will be at high risk of starvation due to habitat loss, and of being killed by predators including feral cats.
“The habitat’s gone, the food is gone. So the negative impacts will go on for many many weeks if not months,” Dr Davidson said.
“Bush does regenerate, grass does regrow, but whether the landscape will fully recover given the climate is now drier and hotter, we don’t know.”
U.S. firefighters meeting some of the locals! 🦘
Dave Soldavini and Brian Stearns of the U.S. @forestservice made friends with these little kangaroo joeys while out in the field this week. 🇺🇸🇦🇺 #USwithAUS #AustraliaFires pic.twitter.com/RTO2dCUlUn— US Embassy Canberra (@USAembassyinOZ) January 10, 2020
University of Melbourne ecologist Alan York warned that the future would be grim for Australia’s iconic native animals unless more was done to mitigate the effects of climate change, prevent habitat destruction and protect vulnerable wildlife.
“The scale and magnitude of these fires is consistent with predictions derived from climate change modelling and we can expect to see more frequent, severe and extensive fires in the future,” Professor York said.
“This will increase the risk of extinction among certain species.”
The decline of local populations of rare species due to habitat isolation and loss coupled with increased frequency and ferocity of “extreme environmental events” such as bushfires fires, “does not bode well for the future”, Professor York said.
“It means the long-term survival of our iconic wildlife is likely to require greater levels of human intervention to protect and foster vulnerable populations,” he said.
“While we hear frequent calls for greater firefighting resources, we will also need more resources for monitoring and safeguarding the well-being of our unique animals.”
How to help, and what not to do
Social media has been awash with photos and videos of animals suffering from injuries, heat and thirst.
While it’s natural to want to help suffering animals, some things can do more harm than good.
Videos of cyclists pouring water down the throats of thirsty koalas have gone viral, but this well-meaning gesture is not in the animals’ best interests, experts have warned.
According to one Frankston Animal Shelter, you can kill a koala by pouring water from a bottle – as they don’t drink like that, if at all. Some have even died from water on the lungs. Makes you wonder what happened to all those koalas in the viral videos. 🐨😢 pic.twitter.com/h41dp0wz23
— Andy Park (@andy_park) January 11, 2020
“When you offer water, offer it in a container so that an animal can drink naturally,” Dr Davidson said.
“If the animal’s head is pointed up and you’re pouring down there is the risk of pouring water into the lungs. Even pouring water into cupped hands is preferable.”
In New South Wales, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) took to the skies in an attempt to get food to native brush-tailed rock-wallabies in bushfire-ravaged regions.
An endangered species, brush-tailed rock-wallaby numbers had already declined dramatically due to habitat loss prior to this fire season.
Operation Rock Wallaby 🦘- #NPWS staff today dropped thousands of kgs of food (Mostly sweet potato and carrots) for our Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby colonies across NSW 🥕🥕 #bushfires pic.twitter.com/ZBN0MSLZei
— Matt Kean MP (@Matt_KeanMP) January 11, 2020
However, Dr Davidson warned the general public against leaving the wrong food out for wildlife.
Feeding “has to be done incredibly carefully to avoid doing more harm than good,” she said.
You can do harm by putting food out that attracts not only the animals that you want to see, but their predators. It has to be done in a systematic way.
“There is a place for support feeding until the natural food sources recover, but it has to be done really carefully.”
Instead, the best way to help wildlife is by leaving large, shallow containers of water outside. Include sticks and leaves in the water to give insects a place to land.
Once the weather’s hot everything needs water. You can save a lot of lives just by having a birdbath in your back garden,” Dr Davidson said.
Flying foxes are especially vulnerable due to habit destruction and climate change.
“There are two species that are really in trouble, the spectacled flying fox and the grey-headed flying fox,” Dr Davidson said.
“We have had a catastrophic year for that species. They have died in their tens of thousands from drought and starvation. We’ve had big events where mothers have abandoned their babies, and we’ve had extreme heat days.”
A crucial way to help flying foxes is by removing unsafe nets from fruit trees which ensnare flying foxes and prevent them from accessing a lifesaving food source.
“It’s a disaster because these products are cheap and nasty and trap animals. Any net you can poke a finger through will trap animals. People don’t know and they put these products on their trees,” Dr Davidson said.
Flying foxes are “long-distance pollinators and forest builders” that are vital to the recovery of habitats post-bushfires.
“In one particular case an adult female was caught. She was lactating, she died, and her baby back in the park will starve to death,” Dr Davidson said.
“There are products sold every day that are trapping and killing endangered animals every day.”
Do:
- Leave large, shallow containers of water outside for birds, insects, and other wildlife to drink. Include a few sticks and leaves so insects can jump in and out.
- Keep domestic pets under control so they don’t prey on wildlife.
- Ask neighbours with fruit tree nets to stop using them.
- If you have a pool ensure there are ropes for animals such as koalas to hold onto so they don’t fall in and drown
- Donate to wildlife rescue efforts.
Don’t:
- Pour water directly into the animals’ mouths. This can cause serious health problems or death.
- Cover fruit trees or other plants with netting. Unsafe netting is a major killer of flying foxes.
- Leave the wrong food out, consult your local wildlife rescue centre.
- Handle injured animals. Call a wildlife rescue centre instead.
Where to donate
- Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund 2020
- Wildlife Victoria bushfire appeal
- Animals Australia
- WIRES Australian Wildlife Rescue Organisation
- RSPCA bushfire appeals
- World Wildlife Fund
The post ‘A disastrous situation’: Australia’s bushfire crisis may push species to extinction appeared first on The New Daily.
**Business and Marketing support on best price; Hit the link now----> http://bit.ly/2HsQmSi