Handout photos made available by NASA Earth Observatory of a satellite image showing burned land and thick smoke over Kangaroo Island, Australia, 09 January 20202 (issued 10 January 2020).
According to media reports, at least 156,000 hectares, nearly one-third of the land area, have burned and 50 homes have been destroyed on the island of 4,700 people. Kangaroo Island lies off the mainland of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide.
About a third of the island is made up of protected nature reserves which are home to native wildlife which includes sea lions, koalas and diverse and endangered bird species, including glossy black-cockatoos which have been brought back from the brink of extinction over the last two decades.
Photo: EPA-EFE/NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY HANDOUT
