Koalas Are Being Released Back Into the Wild After Australian Bushfires

A combination of record-breaking high temperatures and a prolonged drought resulted in the outbreak of several bushfires across Australia’s east coast.

So, when their annual bushfire season arrived in October, things were quick to spiral out of control.

Bushfires began sparking all over the country, with fire crews struggling to contain the flames.

The land had become even more flammable than it already was, which only enabled the flames to spread at terrifying speeds.

But much of their efforts were to no avail, as the fires continued to rampage across the country.

And countries such as Canada, New Zealand, and the United States sent in their own firefighters in a bid to help tackle the blazes.

At least thirty-three people have died as a result of the bushfires, including 9 volunteer firefighters. Sadly, even more people remain missing.

And roughly 2.5 million acres of land have been burned – That’s nearly the same size as South Korea, just to put things into perspective.

And people in neighbouring countries such as New Zealand were reporting being able to actually see and smell the smoke.

NASA reported that one of their satellites was able to capture the thick smoke billowing across the country.

And the wildlife has perhaps suffered the worst. Several of Australia’s native species have been impacted by the fires, including kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, possums, wombats, and echidnas.

Over a billion animals are estimated to have died.

In January, Chris Dickman, an ecology expert from the University of Sydney, predicted that “nationally”, more than 1 billion different animals had died as a result of the fires and destroyed habitats.

With around 25,000 of the marsupials having perished in the flames.

And are currently being nursed back to health by volunteers. However, their caregivers are concerned about their survival rates, considering that a staggering proportion of their natural habitats have been destroyed.

Leaving the marsupials without a home or any natural supply of food.

Months after being rescued, surviving koalas are being released back into the wild.

Wildlife conservation non-profit Science for Wildlife, who helped rescue koalas in collaboration with San Diego Zoo Global, posted the update on Facebook.

With the hopes of restoring the koala population there.

“While they have coped well in care we are delighted to finally send our koalas home. We have been busy assessing the burnt area that we rescued them from, to establish when the conditions have improved enough that the trees can support them again. “The recent rains have helped and there is now plenty of new growth for them to eat, so the time is right. We will be radio-tracking them and keeping a close eye on them to make sure that they settle in OK.”

Let’s hope that this news is only the beginning of a new chapter for the devastated country. While on the topic of good news, let’s just discuss how great Australia’s animals are. Keep scrolling to read more about koalas, and to hear the heartwarming story of a koala joey and his mother after enduring life-saving surgery…