Estimated 3 billion animals affected by Australia bushfires: Study – Gulf Today

Estimated 3 billion animals affected by Australia bushfires: Study – Gulf Today

Estimated 3 billion animals affected by Australia bushfires: Study

3 hours ago

Volunteer Tracy Dodd holds a kangaroo with burnt feet pads after being rescued from bushfires. File photo/Reuters

Nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced by Australia's unprecedented 2019-20 wildfires in "one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history", according to a report released Tuesday.

The study by scientists from several Australian universities said the wildlife hit included 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs.

While the report did not say how many animals died because of the fires, the prospects for those that escaped the flames "were probably not great" due to a lack of food, shelter and protection from predators, said Chris Dickman, one of its authors.

The fires ravaged more than 115,000 square kilometres (44,000 square miles) of drought-stricken bushland and forest across Australia in late 2019 and early 2020, killing more than 30 people and destroying thousands of homes.

It was the broadest and most prolonged bushfire season in modern Australian history, with scientists attributing the severity of the crisis to the impacts of climate change.

A burning gum tree is felled to stop it from falling on a car in Corbago, as bushfires continue