Australia bush fires threaten to wipe out small animal species
- The habitats of certain species have been devastated by the recent fires
- More than 11.2 million hectares, an area equivalent to half of Britain, has been destroyed and 29 people killed since the fire began
Australian animals living in specific habitats, such as mountain lizards, leaf-tailed geckos and pear-shaped frogs, are battling the threat of extinction after fierce bush fires razed large areas of their homes, a new Reuters analysis shows.
Fire has destroyed more than two-thirds of a northeastern zone sprawling over 12 sq km (5 sq miles) where a type of lizard, the Mount Surprise Litter-skink, lives, the analysis of known habitats and satellite-detected fire activity shows.
“The Mount Surprise Litter-skink is one of a number of species that has very limited distribution. That can mean there’s a huge risk of extinction,” said conservation biologist David Lindenmayer.
“When species distributions are so limited, there’s a really high risk that just a single event could knock them down,” added Lindenmayer, an academic at Australian National University.
The huge wildfires have razed more than 11.2 million hectares (27.7 million acres), an area equivalent to half of Britain, and killed 29 people since flaring last year in the southern hemisphere spring.
Officials estimate the fires have ravaged more than 80 per cent of the unique ecosystems of at least 49 animal and plant species already listed as “threatened”.