The horrific wildfires that have been burning across Australia for months now have taken a severe toll on the animals that called the scorched lands home. Estimates of the number of animals killed by the fires range from hundreds of millions to more than 1 billion. Volunteers and crews from Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife Service have been doing what they can to help some of the kangaroos, koalas, lizards, and birds that can be rescued and treated. Ranchers and pet owners have been working to keep the animals in their care secure when possible, but many farm animals have been killed as well. As much as one-third of Australia’s Kangaroo Island has burned so far, with wildlife experts fearing that more than half of the island’s 50,000 koalas have been killed.
Animals Rescued From Australia’s Bushfires
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Adelaide wildlife rescuer Simon Adamczyk carries a rescued koala at a burning forest near Cape Borda, on Kangaroo Island, southwest of Adelaide, Australia, on January 7, 2020. #
David Mariuz / AAP Image via Reuters -
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Rural Fire Service crews engage in property protection of a number of homes along the Old Hume Highway near the town of Tahmoor as the Green Wattle Creek Fire threatens a number of communities southwest of Sydney, Australia, on December 19, 2019. #
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Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Captain Dave Soldavini holds a baby kangaroo that was rescued from a wildfire in Cobungra, Australia, on January 5, 2020. The United States is planning to send at least 100 more firefighters to Australia to join the 159 already there battling blazes. #
Jeremy McMahon / United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service via AP -
A koala named Paul, from the Lake Innes Nature Reserve, is treated for burns at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, in Port Macquarie, Australia, on November 29, 2019. #
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From left: Rebecca Turner, Barbara Barrett, and Sheila Bailey treat a koala named Sharni, from Crowdy Bay National Park, for burns at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital on November 29, 2019. #
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Volunteer wildlife carer Minka Macaule, 14, feeds an injured koala joey at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, in the Parndana region of Kangaroo Island, on January 8, 2020. #
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Wildlife Information, Rescue, and Education Services volunteer and carer Tracy Dodd holds a kangaroo with burned feet pads after it was rescued from bushfires in Australia's Blue Mountains area on December 30, 2019. #
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A koala named Paul, from the Lake Innes Nature Reserve, recovers from his burns in the ICU at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, in Port Macquarie, Australia, on November 29, 2019. #
Nathan Edwards / Getty
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