Hell & high water hit Down Under

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

 

 

Hell & high water hit Down Under

 

MELBOURNE--Dozens of fast-spreading bushfires, many of them

believed to have been set by arsonists, killed countless animals

and hundreds of humans who tried to save their homes and animals in

drought-stricken northeastern Victoria state, Australia during the

first weekend of February 2009.

Among the first 181 known human fatalities were five

prominent animal advocates and two young sisters who tried

unsuccessfully to evacuate their horses [see page 18]. More than 200

rural Australians were missing in a burned region larger than

Luxembourg, pending searches of rubble that remained smouldering for

as long as a week.

The eventual human death toll was expected to exceed 400.

At least 20,000 sheep were killed in two of the first fires

of the series. As more fires broke out, public officials and news

media found themselves unable to keep estimates of livestock losses

current.

Two animal shelters were razed, Wildlife Victoria initially

reported, then bumped the number to four. The best known,

Wildhaven, operated by Stella and Alan Reid, " was a safe, peaceful

paradise for all creatures and especially for kangaroos, " e-mailed

Teresa Buss-Carden of Australians for Wildlife, a subcommittee of

the World League for Protection of Animals. " Every time I spotted

Stella's e-mails I knew that I was in for a beautiful treat. Her

affectionate images of kangaroos, usually embraced by gentle light,

always had a soothing effect on my sore soul. "

" A lot of wildlife carers have lost their homes and

facilities and in some cases their lives, " Wildlife Protection

Association of Australia president Pat O'Brien told Stephen Coates of

Agence France-Presse on February 9. " We're not seeing a lot of

injured animals yet because the fires were so hot the animals were

killed on the spot. It will be ages before we can get into some of

the affected areas, " O'Brien predicted, " and by the time we do,

any injured animals will be dead. "

Royal SPCA of Australia chief executive Maria Mercurio,

however, directed the RSPCA to use the time between the worst of the

firestorm and rescuers gaining access to the area to prepare for one

of the organization's biggest relief efforts ever.

On February 10 the RSPCA was allowed into some fire zones.

" Most animals, like resident humans, have died, " veterinarian and

retired RSPCA president Hugh Wirth told ANIMAL PEOPLE. " Radiant heat

killed them and then their bodies were burnt. Most who survived

cannot be repaired. "

" The vet clinic at Kinglake was one of the casualties, "

reported Daniel Lewis of the Sydney Morning Herald, " but vets have

established temporary triage hospitals in Kinglake, Kinglake West

and Whittlesea to treat injured wildlife and domestic animals.

Fences and pasture have been destroyed, so housing and feeding

animals--particularly horses--is proving difficult. "

" Kangaroo corpses lie scattered by the roadsides while

wombats who survived the wildfire's onslaught emerged from their

burrows to find blackened earth and nothing to eat, " reported

Associated Press writer Kristen Gelineau. " Kangaroos who survived

are suffering from burned feet. Hundreds of burned, stressed and

dehydrated animals--including kangaroos, koalas, lizards and

birds--have already arrived at shelters across the scorched region.

Rescuers have doled out antibiotics, pain relievers and fluids to

the critters, but some of the severely injured were euthanized. "

Vets Beyond Borders volunteer Chris Barton told Lewis that

most kangaroos, wombats and koalas had to be euthanized because of

eye and paw injuries from which they had little chance of successful

recovery.

" You have got to be careful you don't increase the

suffering, " Barton explained. " Animals could be treated, but often

die three weeks later, and you have put them through agony. "

" Animals can't go through the months of rehabilitation needed

to overcome serious burns, " agreed Australian Veterinary

Association president Mark Lawrie, a veteran of bushfire response in

his former job as chief vet for the RSPCA in New South Wales.

" Animals go through hell just like people, but people see the light

at the end of the tunnel. "

Victorian Advocates for Animals president Lawrence Pope told

Gelineau that volunteers " filled 10 giant bins with 2,300 flying

foxes who succumbed to heat stroke. Volunteers tried to save the

bats by giving them fluids and keeping them cool, Pope said, but

the creatures were simply too stressed. "

But there were some success stories. More than 160 pets

found alive in the fire zones were housed in emergency shelters set

up by Animal Aid, reported Megan McNaught of the Melbourne Herald

Sun.

" We have a wallaby joey who has crispy fried ears because he

stuck his head out of his mum's pouch and lost all his whiskers and

cooked up his nose, " Wildlife Victoria president Jon Rowdon told

Gelineau.

The most popular animal survivor was Sam, a female koala

with burnt paws who was found by firefighter David Tree during a

backburning operation near Mirboo North.

" I could see she had sore feet and was in trouble, so I

pulled over the fire truck, " recounted Tree to McNaught of the

Herald Sun and Rohan Sullivan of Associated Press. " She just plonked

herself down on her bum and looked at me like 'put me out of my

misery.' I yelled for a bottle of water. I unscrewed the cap,

tipped it up on her lips and she just took it naturally. She kept

reaching for the bottle, almost like a baby. She drank three

bottles. The most amazing part was when she grabbed my hand. "

Another firefighter videotaped the incident on a cell

telephone. The video became a worldwide hit.

Taken to the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter, Sam was put on

an intravenous drip and given antibiotics and pain relief.

" She is lovely--very docile, " caregiver Jenny Shaw told

McNaught, " and she already has an admirer. A male koala keeps

putting his arms around her. She will need regular attention and it

will be a long road to recovery, but she should be able to be

released back into the wild in about five months. "

Queensland floods

While drought contributed to the devastation in Victoria,

Cyclone Ellie on January 31, 2009 and a smaller cyclone that hit a

week later caused some of the worst flooding on record in the Gulf of

Carpentaria region of northern Queensland.

" Tens of thousands of cattle have been left to starve because

owners cannot drop feed to them and state authorities say they are

powerless to act, " reported Padraic Murphy of The Australian on

February 6. " In many cases, livestock have moved hundreds of

kilometres from their stations, which means identifying their owners

is difficult. And with much of the area under water, station owners

have no feed and many of the animals have been left to die. "

Crocodiles were reported on the streets of Normanton, and a

five-foot croc was hit by a car in Townsville but survived with

broken teeth and an eye injury, for which he was treated, said the

Townsville Bulletin.

Aerial photos showed hundreds of kangaroos huddled on

mudbanks. --M.C.

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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