113 Australian Species Urgently Need Rescue! Nearly 30% of Ecosystems Destroyed, Risk of Extinction Looms
According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment announced on Tuesday (February 11th) that 113 species have been identified as requiring 'urgent intervention' due to the dangerous bushfires that have ravaged the country since September last year.
According to information released on the government website, most of the animals on the list have had at least 30% of their ecosystems burned, with some animals' natural habitats being destroyed to a greater extent. The current list includes 13 bird species, 19 mammal species, 20 reptile species, 17 frog species, 5 invertebrates, 22 crayfish, and 17 fish species.
The website explains: 'The fires covered a very large area, and in many places the fires were extremely fierce. Some species were considered threatened before the fires, and now the fires may have increased the risk of their extinction. Many other animal species were considered safe before the fires, but they have now lost much of their habitat and may be threatened.' The government website also pointed out that protective measures need to be taken to protect these species.
It was reported that koalas were among the animal species listed by the Australian government for urgent intervention. According to The Guardian, in December last year, Australian Environment Minister Susan Riley said that 30% of the koalas in the mid-north coast of New South Wales were killed in the bushfires.
'Biodiversity' magazine's report in February this year also found that another Australian eastern endemic species, the platypus, is currently listed as 'vulnerable species' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to the World Wildlife Fund, this classification refers to species that may face extinction in the near future.
Other animals on the list include the Kangaroo Island dunnart, the red-browed treecreeper, the western ground parrot, and the Parma wallaby.
The report states that the Australian government plans to take two main actions to help protect the animals. First, the government plans to conduct 'field surveys' to determine 'the extent of animal losses and provide a baseline for ongoing monitoring'; second, the government also plans to protect unburned areas from the impact of strong fires.
'Since September last year, nearly 50 million animals, including reptiles, mammals and birds, have been swallowed up by Australia's bushfires,' an ecologist at Sydney University estimated in January this year.
Despite the fact that the bushfires have burned more than 10 million hectares of land since September last year, heavy rain in eastern Australia recently has extinguished some of the longest-burning bushfires in New South Wales.
'After the rain, the New South Wales rural fire service said on Twitter: 'This is the most positive news we've heard in a long time. The recent rainfall has helped firefighters extinguish more than 30 fires. Some of these fires have been burning for weeks or even months.'
DXY
