Australia is currently ablaze, with enormous, out of control fires expected to burn across the country for months. Summer doesn't hit Down Under until December, but this bushfire season is already showing potential to be one of the most devastating in recent years — for humans and wildlife alike.
Six people have been confirmed dead so far, with over 600 homes destroyed and 2.5 million acres burned in NSW alone. Both Sydney and Adelaide are smothered in smoke with residents advised to stay indoors, and a Code Red has been issued for parts of Victoria — the highest bushfire warning level in the state. The last time Victoria declared a Code Red was in 2010.
"If a fire occurs, you will not survive," warned Country Fire Authority chief officer Steve Warrington on Wednesday.
"If you live in [the affected bushland areas] and a fire occurs, a fire will take your home. You need to make sure you are not there. Code Red says to us that we cannot control a fire if it starts. Move out tonight."
SEE ALSO: Photos show the devastating impact of eastern Australia's bushfiresSadly, while humans can take some measures to protect themselves, Australia's native wildlife are not so well-equipped. Fires have torn through koala habitats, with hundreds of the marsupials feared dead and thousands of acres destroyed.
In addition, the climate conditions that led to the fires in the first place have been hurting koalas for some time, limiting their access to food and water.
Speaking to ABC News about the fires, wildlife ecologist Dr. Stephen Phillips estimates 60 to 70 percent of the breeding koala populations have likely died in some areas. "It has certainly set the general recovery objectives of conservation back a long time, probably 10 to 20 years in some instances depending on the scale of the impact."
In May, Australia Koala Foundation estimated that there were "no more than 80,000 koalas in Australia," making them "functionally extinct." Though researchers have disputed this claim, there's no doubt the population is on the decline. It's unclear how many will be left after the fires die down.
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The koalas' dire situation was recently highlighted by a video from 9 News. In it, Australian woman Toni Doherty rushed into blazing bushland along Oxley Highway to rescue a badly burned koala, wrapping him in her shirt and dousing him in water.
"He was crying, and sort of squealing on the tree. I didn't know that they called out like that," Doherty told RN Breakfast. Dubbed "Lewis," the koala was brought to Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, whose clinical director Cheyne Flanagan said he was "almost borderline euthanasia."
"We've been through big fire events twice in the past, but not of this magnitude," said Flanagan to RN Breakfast. "This is the most we've ever experienced and it's just horrible, but it's also heartwarming how wonderful the public has been."
9 News reports Lewis has since been discharged from the hospital and is living with a carer, but has only a 50 percent chance of survival.
Yet even if they manage to escape the flames, koalas still face starvation and dehydration on an unprecedented scale.
"There's a much bigger picture and story to all of this beyond the fires."
Currumbin Wildlife Hospital's senior vet Dr. Michael Pyne told Mashablethat while the Queensland hospital has treated several koalas for burns, many more have fallen victim to the hotter, drier conditions which led to the fires. "There's a much bigger picture and story to all of this beyond the fires," said Pyne.
Though they will occasionally eat from other native trees, a koala's diet primarily consists of eucalyptus leaves. Unfortunately, lack of rain this year has resulted in less growth, and what little foliage there is has been shrivelling and dropping off — turning into perfect tinder.
"Any species that relies on eucalypts flowering are really struggling," said Pyne.
"There's very little food. And koalas typically get water from the leaves, but the leaves that are out there at the moment are very low on water, so koalas are getting dehydrated and falling down in the heat."
Compounding the issue, koalas fleeing the fires are being driven into other koalas' territories, creating more competition for the small amount of food available. "That habitat that didn't get burned has still got a lot of wildlife in it that's going to be really struggling."
"Those that escape the fires, that manage to flee, that manage to move on, they're putting even more strain on an already really struggling habitat that's not sustaining what was there."
Jalu was rescued from the NSW bushfires and cared for at Currumbin Wildlife Hospital. Within two weeks of his arrival, he put on two pounds — 20 percent of his body weight. Credit: Currumbin Wildlife Hospital Partially due to these conditions, Currumbin Wildlife Hospital has seen an unprecedented increase in admissions since August. While it only admitted 27 koalas in 2008, over 500 have already been admitted this year, with between 80 to 90 new patients now arriving each month.
Pyne attributes this quick escalation to a number of factors, including the rampant spread of chlamydia and people's increased willingness help sick or injured wildlife. However, he considers the most significant contributor to be the harsh, dry environment.
Though Pyne's been practicing for almost two decades, he says he's never seen anything like this before. In his opinion, there's no question it is linked to climate change.
SEE ALSO: Koalas drinking water show humanity in Australian bushfire hell"These are native Australian animals that are meant to be able to cope with dry weather — this is what they evolved in," said Pyne. "In the last 19 years I've not seen animals coming in that are just starving and just dehydrated, and there is nothing else wrong with them. It's not something that we expect to see with native wildlife."
This is also expected to cause problems when Currumbin Wildlife Hospital's patients are due for release in a few months. The destruction of so much habitat means many can't return to their own territory, but it will be a difficult challenge to find areas capable of supporting them.
"None of us want to go through all of this effort to save them but then have them be released when the conditions aren't good enough to sustain them out there," said Pyne.
"We haven't quite had to face that problem yet, but it's coming. I guess we're just hoping there might be some miracle and it rains first and makes everything an awful lot easier."
Currumbin Wildlife Hospital has a GoFundMe, which is just over halfway to its $50,000 goal. The hospital is largely self-funded, so these donations will go toward its continued operation. Currumbin Wildlife Hospital also accepts donations via its website and purchases of wish list items, and is currently holding a silent auction with international postage available at the donor's expense.
Port Macquarie Koala Hospital also launched a GoFundMe in October to finance drinking stations for wildlife in burnt out areas, which has since raised over $1 million — well over their $25,000 goal. The hospital has said it will use the money to increase the number of stations and area covered, purchase a vehicle with fire-fighting capabilities to refill them, and establish a wild koala breeding program.
A koala with a leg injury after its rescue from a bushfire at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. Credit: Tao Shelan / China News Service / VCG via Getty Images There has been a concerted effort by organisations such as these across Australia to rescue as many koalas as possible during these fires. However, if we are to save these animals in the long term it's also crucial to fight climate change. Unless Australia receives a few sustained years of regular rain, their hard work may simply be staving off the inevitable.
"The concern is that these conditions becomes the new normal," said Pyne. "If that becomes the new normal then they're going to really struggle, and we're going to gradually lose them."
Since November, it has been estimated that wildlife loss will exceed 500 million across Australia. For those animals lucky enough to escape the blaze, countless habitats have been destroyed in the 8.4m hectares burned. Reuters reports that craft groups like the Animal Rescue Craft Guild have seen a wave of people volunteering to contribute to the cause by making and knitting protective pouches, wraps, boxes, and blankets for wildlife — including koalas, possums, kangaroos, and bats among others — that have seen their habitats destroyed by the fires. Check the Facebook group for what's needed and even patterns for individual items.
UPDATE: Jan. 6, 2020, 5:06 p.m. GMT This story was initially published on Nov. 22 and we have added details at the end of the story about the Animal Craft Rescue Guild. We thought this would be helpful.
