Australian Wildfires Believed to Have Affected Almost 500 Million Animals

Australian Wildfires Believed to Have Affected Almost 500 Million Animals.

Since September 2019, uncontrollable fires have ravaged Australia, displacing both humans and animals in New South Wales and Victoria.

An estimated 12.35 million acres of land have burned so far.

According to professors at the University of Sydney, approximately half a billion animals have been affected by the fires in New South Wales alone.

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This means that a range of wildlife such as reptiles, mammals and birds, have been killed, injured or forced to flee.

Some things are going to be mobile - birds will fly away and come back … Some reptiles, like lizards, would perhaps go underground, Professor Chris Dickman, via 7News.

Koalas have been especially devastated by the fires, as more than one-third of the population in New South Wales is believed to have perished.

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The resulting lack of resources in “severely burned areas” is also predicted to further the reduction of animals.

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Prior research indicates that in severely burned areas, the resulting lack of shelter, lack of food, and incursions by invasive predators lead to further drastic but indirect reductions of animal numbers.

, Professor Chris Dickman, via 7News