Catastrophic fires, the worst drought in history and record high temperatures are taking a tragic toll on native wildlife.

In WIRES history we have never seen a concurrent series of emergencies events like those that began in November. Hundreds of fires over weeks have burnt over 4.9 million hectares of land in NSW alone. 

Many animals were already struggling with a lack of water and food due to the drought. With the fires destroying unprecedented amounts of habitat, food shortages have increased and lack of suitable habitat will be a significant long-term challenge for surviving wildlife.

It is impossible to know how many animals have perished and it will be many months before the impact on wild populations can be better understood but ecologists at Sydney University have estimated over 800 million animals have been affected in Australia since September. 

Summer is a frantically busy time for wildlife rescue and there are still over 100 fires burning in NSW. In December alone there were over 20,000 calls to WIRES 1300 line, a 14% increase on last year, and volunteers attended over 3,300 rescues. 

To help rescue sick, injured and orphaned wildlife please support our Tech Support WIRES Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/techsupport-for-wildlife