The animals in Australia are desperate to survive in the midst of the terrible bushfires that are destroying their habitats. The situation is brutal, and it won't be over anytime soon. Now officials are doing their best to help at least some of the animals have a fighting chance. Thousands of pounds of food are being dropped over the affected areas. Carrots and sweet potatoes, for example, are being dropped over New South Wales.
Matt Kean, the minister for energy and environment for New South Wales, calls it “Operation Rock Wallaby." He's been sharing photos on social media to document the efforts. His recent pictures show the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service dropping buckets of carrots from a helicopter over the endangered brush-tailed rock-wallaby colonies.
The situation is incredibly frightening, and reports that 1 billion animals have already perished are now coming in. These new efforts give hope to a grim situation.
The fires are expected to continue raging for months. The fires have claimed the lives of at least 25 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes. Chris Dickman, an ecologist at the University of Sydney, says more than a billion animals have been killed since September. About 800 million of those deaths were in South Wales.
"I think there's nothing quite to compare with the devastation that's going on over such a large area so quickly. It's a monstrous event in terms of geography and the number of individual animals affected," Dickman said in an interview with NPR last week.
"We know that Australian biodiversity has been going down over the last several decades, and it's probably fairly well known that Australia's got the world's highest rate of extinction for mammals," he added. "It's events like this that may well hasten the extinction process for a range of other species. So, it's a very sad time." That's for sure. The damage is downright catastrophic and hard to believe.
Luckily, so many people are stepping in to help the situation. "Initial fire assessments indicate the habitat of several important Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby populations was burnt in the recent bushfires," New South Wales environment minister Matt Kean said in a statement on Sunday. "The wallabies were already under stress from the ongoing drought, making survival challenging for the wallabies without assistance." It seems like this assistance is more than necessary. It's wonderful that it's being put into place.
"The provision of supplementary food is one of the key strategies we are deploying to promote the survival and recovery of endangered species like the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby," Kean said. "The wallabies typically survive the fire itself, but are then left stranded with limited natural food as the fire takes out the vegetation around their rocky habitat." Hopefully, this tactic will do some good and soon.
This has been a particularly devastating year in terms of fires. The country in Australia experienced one of its hottest and driest years. Of course, this devastation won't be cured or even contained quickly. The saddest thing about the fires is that the impacts will be felt for years to come.
In the meantime, there are tons of ways to support the efforts happening in Australia and across the globe. There are tons of organizations stepping in to help. When we feel helpful, there's usually something small we can do, even if we aren't sure how much impact it will have.
Some of the best ways to help right now are by donating to the Australian Red Cross, which has volunteers at evacuation and recovery centers. You can also give to the Salvation Army Australia, which launched a disaster appeal. The organization is providing shelter and meals to evacuees and frontline responders.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society Australia is requesting money to help evacuated families cover bills and rebuild, which will undoubtedly be a huge need moving forward. There's also the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, which set up funds for the families of two firefighters. Many other celebrities and individuals have launched their own efforts on their platforms. So there is no shortage of ways to get involved.
The fires are still raging on, but hopefully, this effort will bring some help to the animals in need. No matter what, it's a beautiful act and so nice to see. When things feel hopeless, there are always so many people around doing wonderful things. Regardless of how dire the situation seems, there is still hope, and it's important to recognize that.
