SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA) – Devastating bushfires in 2019 and this year killed or displaced nearly 3 billion koalas, kangaroos and other animals, said a study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
The country’s worst bushfires in decades affected 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs, the WWF said on Tuesday.
Over 11 million hectares (37 million acres) of bush across the Australian southeast, equal to about half the area of the United Kingdom, was gutted.
“This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history,” said WWF-Australia Chief Executive Officer Dermot O’Gorman.
The WWF said it used various methods to estimate animal populations, including using data from over 100,000 surveys.
Project leader Lily Van Eeden of the University of Sydney said the research was the first in the continent to analyse the impact of bushfires on animals.
“Other nations can build upon this research to improve understanding of bushfire impacts everywhere,” she said.
The tally includes animals displaced and facing shortage of food and habitat.
“We don’t even know what we are losing,” said Chris Dickman, professor in ecology at the University of Sydney.
“These were species that were here and now they have gone… It’s almost too tragic to think about.”
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field
