Aircrafts are being used to send help from above feeding the thousands of hungry wildlife stranded in the Australian bushfire crisis.
The New South Wales government has begun doing food-drops, trickling thousands of kilograms of sweet potato and carrots from above to feed the state's colonies of brush-trailed rock wallabies.
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service have recently commenced 'Operation Rock Wallaby' to combat the at-risk nature of the state's marsupial population.
The parks service completed the food drops for rock wallaby colonies in the Capertree and Wolgan valleys, the Kangaroo Valley, Yengo National Park, and around Jenolan, Oxley Wild Rivers and Curracubundi national parks.
In total, they have dropped over 2,200kg of fresh vegetables for the critters.
One happy customer 🦘🥕🥕🥕🥕#operationrockwallaby #AustralianFires pic.twitter.com/wtzMgeaX6D
— Matt Kean MP (@Matt_KeanMP) January 11, 2020
The World Wildlife Fund has estimated approximately 1.25 billion animals have died either directly or indirectly from the bushfires across Australia.
New South Wales Environment Minister Matt Kean noted that while the animals have managed to flee the fires, they are left without a source of food.
NSW Fires: Staff from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife conducted a food drop for brush-tailed rock wallaby colonies across the state yesterday. Sweet potato and carrots were dropped as part of 'Operation Rock Wallaby'. https://t.co/OF81oZFF1j #NSWfires #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/yw0YxJm0PN
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) January 12, 2020
The rock wallaby - the primary species for the state's food drop initiative - was already deemed at-risk before the bushfires due to habitat destruction.
Meanwhile, charity Animals Australia is using aircraft to transport food supplies for the injured and burnt wildlife in regional Victoria.
Australia's iconic wildlife is being hit hard as bushland continues to be destroyed. Millions of animals are being killed, injured and displaced. Help us get emergency funds to care for injured and displaced wildlife 👉 https://t.co/ZwuLZS43ot#AustraliaBurns pic.twitter.com/i7mhpdualO
— WWF_Australia (@WWF_Australia) January 12, 2020
Over 800,000 hectares of land have been burnt in East Gippsland since fires have gripped the region and stranded thousands of residents and tourists before New Year's Eve.
The organization has been relying on donations to lease small planes and then filling them with bags of grain and pellets to distribute to wildlife in the region through 'Vets for Compassion'.
The first plane chartered last weekend flew in Dr. Elaine Ong and Dr. Chris Barton- the first vets on the ground in Mallacoota.
A subsequent two plane-loads of food and veterinary supplies were sent off to reach the animals around the Mallacoota fire-grounds.
In total, the group has sent three tonnes of food for kangaroos in the area, in addition to a generator and other supplies.
Animals Australia Spokeswoman, Lyn White, said they're working as hard as they can to make sure the wildlife that has survived the fires doesn't die from a lack of food.
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