There are concerns that bushfires may have wiped out entire species of plants and animals on the basis of estimates that 480 million animals may die as a result of the crisis.
Since September, ecologists at Sydney University report that approximately half a billion mammals, birds and reptiles may have been lost.
Experts also claim the number may increase in the aftermath of the destructive fires that swept through Victoria and the NSW South Coast over the past few days, leaving many people dead or unaccounted for, destroying hundreds of homes and stranding thousands.
The number includes species that have been destroyed in the fires but also by habitat loss.
According to a statement from Sydney University, the report's co-author, Professor Chris Dickman, a Terrestrial Ecology professor, based the calculations on the impacts of Land Clearing on Australia Wildlife in NSW on a 2007 report for the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF).
According to a statement from Sydney University, the report's co-author, Professor Chris Dickman, a Terrestrial Ecology professor, based the calculations on the impacts of Land Clearing on Australia Wildlife in NSW on a 2007 report for the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF).
Fires raged across NSW and Victoria, already burning millions of hectares of the national park.
Harrowing scenes of kangaroos escaping firewalls, burned bodies of koalas and cockatoos dropping dead from trees have shocked the world as it attempts to take into account the severity of the unfolding tragedy.
Koalas were among Australia's hardest-hit native animals because they move slowly and eat only leaves from the eucalyptus tree that are filled with oil, making them highly flammable.
It is estimated that up to 8,000—one-third of the entire NSW mid-north coast koala population — were killed in less than four months.
In other fire-affected states, such as Victoria and South Australia, there are significant koala populations, but there are no figures yet on how many have been lost.
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