Australia’s dinosaur-era pines live on after bushfire rescue – News of Bahrain- DT News

Australia’s dinosaur-era pines live on after bushfire rescue – News of Bahrain- DT News

Australia's dinosaur-era pines live on after bushfire rescue. Australia's Wollemi Pines survived the dinosaurs, and now firefighters have nursed them through the country's worst bushfires in generations to live another day.. The giant prehistoric trees were thought to be extinct until 1994, when authorities found 200 of them in a national park near the Blue Mountains north-west of Sydney.. The Gospers Mountain 'megafire' wiped out most of the trees' home in Wollemi National Park, but they emerged virtually unscathed after air tankers dropped fire retardant and firefighters set up irrigation systems to protect them, the government said.. As the fire approached, firefighters were winched in by helicopter to activate the irrigation systems while other aircraft dropped water along the flames' edge to minimise their impact.. "While some trees are charred, the species has survived this summer's fires," New South Wales state Environment Minister Matt Kean said.. Bushfires are common during Australia's summer but this fire season started unusually early.. The blazes have killed 29 people, destroyed more than 2,500 homes and killed or injured an estimated 1 billion native animals, wildlife academics say.