Experts warn some species in Australia will go extinct due to fires
5383 Mins Read
Two wildfires have merged to form a massive inferno in south-eastern Australia, as experts warned some species are likely already to be extinct.
The “megafire” engulfing nearly 1.5 million acres in New South Wales and Victoria was created when lightning strikes and flames fanned by strong winds sparked new blazes.
It is just one of 135 bush fires that have killed at least 28 people and an estimated one billion animals, and damaged or destroyed nearly 3,000 homes since September.
Firefighters tackled the inferno as a leaked report on the emergency to the government of Victoria this week warned that some species are likely to already be extinct.
And a British scientist predicted the tally of animals killed could be in the trillions – far larger even than the half or one billion estimated.
A handout photo made available by the Australian Department of Defence shows former bee keeper Trooper Daniel Byford from the 1st Armoured Regiment checking on beehives damaged in the Kangaroo Island bushfires at the Hanson Wildlife Sanctuary, on Kangaroo Island, Australia, 11 January 2020 (issued 12 January 2020), during Operation Bushfire Assist. EPA-EFE/CPL TRISTAN KENNEDY/FIRST JOINT PUBLIC AFFAIRS UNIT HANDOUT
Prof Ben Garrod, an evolutionary biologist at the University of East Anglia, said: “With habitat loss, reduced food availability and possible increased predation, the full effects of these fires will not be felt for months or years to come, but will certainly cause the extinction for some of Australia’s most iconic, fragile and beautiful inhabitants.”
Australia was home to about 80 per cent of mammals found nowhere else on Earth, and the full effect of the fires may not be felt for months or years to come, he said.
A handout photo made available by the Australian Department of Defence shows injured koalas rescued by the Australian Army soldiers, New Zealand Army sappers and RSPCA members being transported from the Hanson Wildlife Sanctuary on Kangaroo Island, Australia, 11 January 2020 (issued 12 January 2020), in a Medical Protected Mobility Vehicle during Operation Bushfire Assist. EPA-EFE/CPL TRISTAN KENNEDY/FIRST JOINT PUBLIC AFFAIRS UNIT HANDOUT
A leaked report on the emergency delivered to the government of Victoria this week warned that some species are likely to already be extinct. About a quarter of the sooty owl population has been killed, and “almost all” eastern ground parrots’ Victorian habitat destroyed, the document states, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
More than 40 per cent of the Victorian habitats of the sooty owl, diamond python, and brush-tailed rock-wallaby have also been wiped out, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning concluded.
