Australian animals feel the heat
BOOLIGAL, Australia — From abandoned baby kangaroos to wallabies being blinded by the sun and koalas having to go walkabout to look for eucalyptus leaves, Australia’s exotic wild animals are struggling to adapt to a crippling drought.
The “big dry”, lasting for several years in some areas, is turning vast swathes of lush green land across the continent’s eastern interior brown.
“There are large numbers of kangaroos dying all over the country,” ecologist Richard Kingsford from the University of New South Wales said, warning that change was occurring “at such a fast rate for so many animals and plants that they can’t adapt in that amount of time”.
The government is ramping up aid to support drought-stricken farmers as they struggle to make ends meet and feed their stock.
But conservationists warn that the natural environment, particularly endangered wildlife, also needs support.
While droughts are not uncommon in Australia and native species are hardier than livestock, additional factors such as human activity, introduced animals and dwindling As well as farmers and domestic livestock, native wildflife are being hit hard by severe drought Lowest on record Severe deficiency Serious deficiency Some rarer species can't survive under hotter and drier conditions 200 km Those that don't venture far from their burrows to feed are starving
water sources are compounding the stress on populations.
Wildlife rescuer Racheal Walker has seen a sharp increase in the number of baby kangaroos, or joeys, being taken into care in central-west New South Wales state.
The malnourished babies are abandoned by mothers who aren’t able to feed them, while others are orphaned young whose parents were Drought is drying up the eucalyptus trees they feed on
struck by vehicles as they roam closer to towns in search of food and water.
Other smaller marsupials that usually prefer wooded areas are also venturing far beyond their habitat in search of sustenance.
“We’re finding a lot more wallabies with blindness because they’re actually coming out into the open paddocks searching for food, and their