Australia's Bushfires: Heartbreaking Photos Show Animals in Agony

Yara Sameh

Blazes have been burning across Australia for months. It has taken a massive toll on humans, animals, land, homes, towns, property, and most of all nature – since September.

The raging fire has killed at least 23 people, including several volunteer firefighters, and scorched nearly 25.5 million acres of land.

It also destroyed or damaged nearly 2,000 homes and towns – most of it bushland, forests and national parks– which are home to the native wildlife since September.

Fires on the Kangaroo Island, in South Australia, started with lightning strikes in the Flinders Chase national park.

The bushfires have also taken a massive toll on animals — more than a billion of them are thought to have died so far.

Celebrities and other well-known figures throughout the world have publicly announced that they will be donating $500,000 to the cause including, Metallica, Hollywood star Nicole Kidman and her husband country singer Keith Urban, Pink, and Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, and Sir Elton John.

The bushfires follow a three-year drought, which experts have linked to climate change. It has impacted the country's bushland tinder-dry and left it vulnerable to fires.

Also, it had a tragic impact on pets and wild animals, as tens of thousands of koalas are feared dead on Kangaroo Island alone.

The family of late wildlife conservationist Steve Irwin announced last week that their animal hospital in Queensland had treated over 90,000 patients.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B60DXgHhqrK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://twitter.com/jmcappiello/status/1212751410049236993

Unique animals

Ecologists have grave concerns for the unique and endangered wildlife on the Island after the bushfires have killed thousands of koalas, totaled an estimated 25,000.

The concerns are higher for the mouse-like marsupial the Kangaroo Island dunnart, and the glossy black cockatoo, which both were seen extensive areas of critical habitat burned.

Which animals are affected?

So many different species, from livestock to insects, have been touched by the fires, however, there is no way to make a chart of which populations were hit the hardest.

Koalas

The images of injured koalas, long a favorite animal of many and an Australian icon, have dominated worldwide media coverage.

Terri Irwin, the widow of Irwin, told the Australian morning program Sunrise that the koala's instincts and habitat work against them.

"Koala instinct is to go up, as safety is in the top of the tree," Irwin said. "Eucalyptus trees have so much oil that they ignite and explode in a fire."

A NASA image of Kangaroo Island off of Australia's southern coast shows a full third of the island is now covered with burn scars or active fires.

Ecologists in Flinders Chase National Park there estimate 25,000 koalas – half the island's population – may have been killed.

Ellenborough Lewis – the koala whose dramatic rescue from Australian bush fires was a symbol of hope for the struggling koala population– has had to be put down because of the severity of his injuries.

https://twitter.com/9NewsAdel/status/1199175356365688832

Flying foxes

Bindi, the daughter of Irwin, recently posted about another species that's been affected.

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/B66e49TBUte/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link[/embed]

Camels

CBS News reported on January 7 that 5,000 to 10,000 feral camels will be shot in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands (AYP) of South Australia.

Despite that the camel cull isn't as directly related to the fires as other animal deaths, however, officials say the animals are endangering humans by drinking too much water as drought and the fires make it an even more precious commodity.

Livestock

Farm animals, too, are helpless in the face of the fires.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on January 5 thousands of farm animals burned in the fires had been euthanized, and the country was racing to bury "hundreds of thousands" of bodies to "fight off a biosecurity emergency."

https://twitter.com/ABCcameramatt/status/1213638839245238272

How to help?

World Wide Fund for Nature

Koalas are a focus for donations at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Many koalas survived, however, they will need trees after many have been burned down.

The WWF hopes, once the fires clear, to plant 10,000 trees in what's called the "koala triangle", which is located between the southwest Sydney, Gunnedah, and Noosa.

The group also lists what different donation amounts for the koalas, such as $50 for tree-planting efforts, and $75 for food and medicine, etc.

NSW Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service

WIRES Wildlife Rescue, Australia's largest wildlife rescue organization, is based on hard-hit New South Wales and has a popular Facebook fundraising page.

The organization volunteers to go into the burned areas after it's safe and rescue animals, though some are hurt so badly that they need to be euthanized.

Zoos Victoria

Zoos Victoria created a bushfire emergency wildlife fund, which can be used for donations to help fund emergency veterinary assistance and scientific intervention.

https://twitter.com/ZoosVictoria/status/1215206325900075008

Australia Zoo

The famed Irwin family runs the Australia Zoo in Queensland. The zoo's wildlife hospital is accepting donations and is planning to build a ward for flying foxes.

RSPCA of New South Wales

The RSPCA of New South Wales is also working to evacuate animals in threatened areas as well as to travel into burned landscapes to rescue and treat the injured.

[embed]https://twitter.com/RSPCANSW/status/1215094994689777666[/embed]

Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

Staff at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, joined by National Parks and Wildlife Service crew leaders, have spent weeks searching for koalas affected by the fires, and have brought 31 to the hospital so far.

The group is also raising money through a Go Fund Me page.

Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park

The devastation at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park has made headlines across the globe.

The group is raising money through a "Go Fund Me" page for help with veterinary costs, koala milk and supplements, extra holding and rehabilitation enclosures and more.