Fires Ravage Australian Wildlife, Ecosystem

All Plus Magazine, January 2020.

The huge bushfires that burned across Australia for months affected at least a billion animals and caused serious damage to the environment. Some estimates say up to a billion animals were killed.

The wildfires, which began in September, burned more than 18 million acres, destroying thousands of homes and wiping out entire towns. 

Many animals were killed directly by flames or smoke. Others had their habitats destroyed, leaving them without food, water, or shelter. The damage was clear at Australia’s cherished Kangaroo Island, which has been compared to the Galapagos for its wildlife. After fires swept across the island in January, it was uncertain if its ecosystem could ever recover.

At least 25,000 koalas are thought to have died in the fires, including half of the 50,000 on Kangaroo Island. There and elsewhere, a race was on to save koalas and other animals.

The New South Wales government in January began air-dropping food to hungry animals escaping the fires. That operation dropped more than 1,000 kilograms of carrots and sweet potatoes by helicopter. With fires still raging well into the new year, final estimates of damage to the environment were likely to take months to complete.

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Writing Sample, John Sailors. This article was written for All Plus magazine, LiveABC, Taipei. LiveABC publications are sold in Asia (in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam), North America, Latin America, and Europe. Partners include EMC Publishing, McGraw-Hill, Se-Education, Nanmeebooks and others.