 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
 By Holly ROBERTSON Kangaroo Island, Australia (AFP) Jan 16, 2020
On an island famed as Australia's "Galapagos" for its unique and abundant wildlife, rescuers are racing to save rare animals in a bushfire-ravaged landscape. The charred forest floor on Kangaroo Island is littered with corpses of animals incinerated by the blazes that swept through two weeks ago. Unprecedented fires across swathes of southern and eastern Australia over the past five months have killed an estimated billion animals. With forests and coastal areas roughly the size of Portugal burnt through, environmentalists fear the fires will drive some species to extinction. On Kangaroo Island -- home to unique koalas, the critically endangered mouse-like dunnart and many threatened plants -- concerns are particularly acute. Amid the stench of rotting animal flesh, rescuers are combing the island's Flinders Chase National Park looking for injured, lost and starving animals. "When we found this area we never thought anything could have survived, but we have pulled survivors out of there every day," Kelly Donithan, a Humane Society International crisis response specialist, told AFP while on patrol this week. But with huge parts of the animals' habitats destroyed, the chances of many surviving are fading by the day. "Time is of the essence," Donithan said. "Every day that goes by, the animals get weaker and weaker and their organs are becoming more susceptible to irreparable damage." - Deathly silence - Kangaroo Island, a short ferry ride from Adelaide in South Australia, was before the fires a popular tourist destination because of its pristine landscape and wildlife. One of its most famous animals is the glossy black cockatoo, a bird with a bright tail that is extinct on the mainland. But as rescuers walked through the death zones of the national park on Wednesday, no birds could be heard. Another top concern is the Kangaroo Island dunnart, a small grey marsupial which was already facing extinction before the blazes. "We think there were about 500 of them left (before the fires)," Zoos South Australia chief executive Elaine Bensted told national broadcaster ABC. She said most of the dunnarts were in the western part of the island, which has been most severely impacted by the fires, many still burning. - 'Insurance' koalas - The rescuers say it is difficult to find small species that have survived so their focus has mainly been on larger animals. These notably include the local koala population, the only one in Australia entirely free of chlamydia -- a sexually transmitted infection also found in humans that is fatal to the marsupials. This has made them a key "insurance population" for the future of the species. They are even more crucial now that huge numbers of koalas are feared to have died in the bushfires on the Australian mainland. Australian Environment Minister Sussan Ley this week said koalas had taken an "extraordinary hit" and could be listed as endangered for the first time. Rescued koalas are being taken to a makeshift sanctuary at Kangaroo Island's Wildlife Park. But some are so badly injured that they are having to be euthanised. The battle to save remaining wildlife creates a "rollercoaster of emotions", Humane Society International's Evan Quartermain said. "Sometimes we're out there for hours walking through catastrophic landscapes (with) hundreds and hundreds of bodies on the ground... and you get down -- you can't help it -- it's extremely traumatic," he told AFP. "But then you find a (koala) joey at the end of the day and we bring it in and we give it a chance and we're filled with joy."
Struggling Hong Kong theme park to end dolphin shows Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 14, 2020 A struggling Hong Kong theme park has said it will end its controversial dolphin and sea lion shows but will continue to allow visitors to hug a dolphin, drawing criticism from animal rights groups. Ocean Park said on Monday it would replace the daily shows at its flagship enclosure with "underwater viewing opportunities" for visitors. "Under the new plan, the Ocean Wonder show will cease," said Leo Kung, chairman of Ocean Park. However, the park said it would continue to allow visitors to p ... read more
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
