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More than 2,000kg of carrots and sweet potato have been dropped from planes to feed wildlife displaced from the ‘catastrophic’ bushfires in Australia.
It is feared that more than one billion animals have been killed due to the fires, which have also destroyed more than 2,000 homes, burning more than 30,000 square miles across the states of New South Wales and Victoria.
‘Operation Rock Wallaby’
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services have deployed ‘Operation Rock Wallaby’ to help preserve the state’s marsupial population.
Food for rock-wallaby colonies has been dropped using aircrafts in the Capertree and Wolgan valleys, Yengo National Park, the Kangaroo Valley, and throughout Jenolan, Oxley Wild Rivers, and Curracubundi national parks, the Daily Mail reports.
‘Already under stress’
NSW is Environment Minister Matt Kean told the publication: “The wallabies typically survive the fire itself, but are then left stranded with limited natural food as the fire takes out the vegetation around their rocky habitat.
“[They] were already under stress from the ongoing drought, making survival challenging for the wallabies without assistance. When we can, we are also setting up cameras to monitor the uptake of the food and the number and variety of animals there.”
Disaster relief
A fundraiser for fire services in NWS raised more than A$20 million in 48 hours to help tackle the fire. While Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called up 3,000 reserve troops.
If you would like to donate or volunteer to help with the fires, click here
