<
https://theconversation.com/as-the-black-summer-megafires-neared-people-rallied-to-save-wildlife-and-domestic-animals-but-it-came-at-a-real-cost-248432>
"As the 2019-2020 megafires took hold across eastern Australia, many of us
reeled at the sight of animals trying and often failing to flee. Our screens
filled up with images of koalas with burned paws and possums in firefighter
helmets.
The death toll was staggering, estimated at up to three billion wild animals
killed or displaced. Millions more were severely injured. Tens of thousands of
domesticated animals were killed or had to be euthanised.
In fighting these fires, authorities focused almost entirely on protecting
human lives and property, other than targeted rescue efforts for the last
remaining wild stand of Wollemi pine. The role of rescuing and caring for
domesticated and wild animals fell almost entirely to community groups and
individual carers, who stepped up to fill the gap at significant cost to
themselves – financially, emotionally and sometimes even at a risk to their
safety.
Our new research draws on more than 60 interviews with wildlife carers and
groups in the Shoalhaven region south of Wollongong in New South Wales. These
people spontaneously organised themselves to care for thousands of
domesticated, farm and wild animals, from evacuating them from fire zones to
giving them shelter, food, water and healthcare.
The lengths our interviewees went to were extraordinary. But these rescue
efforts were largely invisible to authorities – and, as our interviewees told
us, sometimes even condemned as irresponsible."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
