January 08, 2020, 05:31 PM
The Australian bushfires have been out of control since August 2019.
Worst bushfires on record
Although bushfires typically occur in the country during the warmer spring and summer months, the ongoing fires have been extreme in scale, caused by climate change.
To give you a perspective on the scale of the disaster, the combined size of the fires is equivalent to the size of 83 Singapores.
On top of that, the number of animals killed by the fires has increased to a staggering one billion as of Jan. 8.
Koalas are the most affected
Koalas are especially vulnerable to the bushfires.
They are not as mobile as other animals and find it hard to escape.
This is a serious problem as koalas are endemic to Australia and cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
Australia Zoo in Queensland, run by the renowned Irwin family, has been nursing hundreds of injured animals, including koalas, since the bushfires.
Care for over 250 koalas
Other rescue centres have also done the same, particularly the Koala Rescue Centre in Adelaide, South Australia.
The centre is currently caring for more than 250 koalas.
A Facebook post of the Koalas placed in tents went viral on Jan. 8:
The Adelaide Koala Rescue is a non-profit organisation and registered charity that has been operating the largest-scale rescue of koalas from the Adelaide Hills bushfire zone.The organisation self-funds a temporary koala triage facility and they source their own volunteer veterinary professionals to treat the animals.
Photo via Welcome To Australia/FB.
Support needed
Currently, they have over 150 volunteers, including a team of more than 80 veterinarians and vet nurses.
However, with the current scale of the bushfires, the number of koalas they rescue and care for daily has rapidly increased.
This means that more money is required to fund the rescue equipment and other necessities for the animals.
Their usual veterinary bills of around AUD1000 (S$928) per month has also escalated to more than AUD4000 (S$3,713) per week due to the bushfires.
"Due to the volume of koalas we rescue and care for daily, we have little time for fundraising— especially during a bushfire crisis.
The cost of saving South Australia's koalas is funded by our charity."
To donate, you can go to their GoFundMe page here.
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Top photos via Welcome To Australia/FB.
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