As the Grampians fires approached, 20 kangaroo joeys took shelter in a living room. Experts say others aren’t so lucky (original) (raw)
As fires headed toward her Grampians property in the Australian state of Victoria on Boxing Day, wildlife carer Pam Turner sheltered 20 joeys in her living room.
The animals gathered inside – standing alert from the noise of the sprinklers – are all hand-reared by her after being orphaned through car accidents, fence hangings and shootings.
They were too large to be evacuated, yet too young to fend for themselves.
“I just couldn’t have left them, so I was prepared to stay,” says Turner, who operates the Wildwood Wildlife Shelter in western Victoria, which specialises in kangaroos.
So, as the Grampians blaze approached her home, she ushered them indoors.
Roof sprinklers were going on all the buildings, as Turner prepared to hunker down with her mob. Luckily, the wind changed direction earlier, she said. “Which was fortunate for us, not so fortunate for those on the east side of the mountain.
The Grampians national park, known as Gariwerd to traditional owners, has seen at least four major bushfires since 2006, affecting about 85% of its land, according to Forest Fire Management Victoria.
Kangaroos are sometimes fast enough to escape the flames, and more likely to survive than smaller, ground-dwelling species, Turner said. But they turn up traumatised and emaciated at shelters, with foot pads scorched by the hot earth.
While the full extent of the damage from the fires isn’t yet known, Wildlife Victoria expects “catastrophic and long-term impacts” for wildlife, including substantial loss of life, burns, blindness, dehydration and starvation due to loss of habitat and food sources.
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“Our wildlife are on the frontline of climate change. They don’t have anywhere to escape to from fires,” says its chief executive, Lisa Palma. “We desperately need more action on climate change, and more support for wildlife from governments to try to limit the damage being done to our precious native species before it’s too late.”
Wildlife ecologist Dr John White, an associate professor at Deakin University, has been studying the impact of fire on the Grampians landscape since 2008. What began as a short-term study – after bushfires burned 47% of the national park in 2006 – has continued as the park faced three further large-scale events.
The Grampians study provided a lens on the ecological effects of climate change across south-eastern Australia, he says.
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It was an ancient landscape with diverse habitats, he says. It has been home to a third of Victoria’s plant species and a stronghold for native mammals, including the endangered heath mouse and southern brown bandicoots, vulnerable long-nosed potoroos, and several species of antecinus (a small carnivorous marsupial).
Recovery after fire was a slow process that could be compounded by drought, he says.
“Most of the animals we work on, there’s a peak time about 20 years post-fire, where they seem to hit their straps.”
The problem with climate change was “having one big fire after another over very short periods of time”. Species don’t have enough time to recover, he says, with some showing marked declines.
Controlling feral cats and foxes in the aftermath could help, he says. “Those two species will be drawn in and basically capitalise on the fact that there’s a lot of animals running around, and not much cover for them to hide in.”
Kelly O’Shanassy, the chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation, says a combination of land clearing and climate change had placed Australia’s “incredibly precious” species at major risk.
Native species that relied on national parks like the Grampians for their habitat and survival were also being affected by more frequent and intense fires fuelled by climate change.
“There’s two things we can do that will really help save wildlife and help protect people,” she says. “Let’s take real action on climate change. We need to stop digging up and burning fossil fuels, like coal and gas and oil to power our lives.”
“The second thing we need to do is stop bulldozing the bush.”