Madhurima
Australia’s Government gave an official statement today i.e. 13th January 2020 that animals like rock wallabies and koalas might get categorized under ‘endangered’ species due to the gruesome bushfires.
There is a massive dip as there is a 30% decrease in the koala habitat in the country. They further stated that a $ 76 million emergency fund has been created for the communities who have been facing the fire crises since September 2019. The fund is for emergency mental health services.
This natural disaster is being considered one of the worst in history. As of now, 26 people have been killed, over 10 million hectares of land and 2000 houses have been burned and many animal species might face extinction.
1.25 billion animals are said to be dead and scientists mention that even millions of insects might have been washed out due to the fires. The government has also donated a generous fund of $ 50 million for the loss of flora and fauna.
Apart from koalas, other animals who are at risk include island dunnart kangaroo, glossy black cockatoo, western ground parrot, blue mountain water skink, long-footed potoroo, and brush-tailed rock wallaby.
A mission known as ‘Operation Rock Wallaby’ was also conducted where employees from the national park with the use of a helicopter, dropped kilos worth of carrots and sweet potatoes for the wallabies from the scarce areas of New South Wales.
"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," NSW environment minister Matt Kean said.
