australia

Owen Colley is a six-year-old boy from Massachusetts who, according to his parents: "Was upset by the Australian bushfires so we wanted to provide an outlet for him to feel like he could do something to help. He's a huge animal lover and has been making clay characters for a while so together we thought out the clay koalas and offered it to friends and family as a "thank you" for donations for bushfire affected animals. Then his gran shared it with the local paper, so here we are...

Owen and his parents created a page on GoFundMe called "Owen's Australian Creature Rescue" through which they have raised more than 277,000$ so far. 

Well done, Owen!

We'll take any little moment of happiest there is in this world! When OJ, the pup, and his family, returned home after safely evacuating from the Australia bushfires, they came across a house of rubble. 

Amongst that rubble, there happened to be one survivor and OJ couldn't be more happy to see his favorite toy!

Thank you to WeRateDogs for sharing such a beautiful moment with the world. 

Here is a mini-wholesome thread about OJ:

Art can be extremely powerful, in sending a message to the world.

Artists from all over the world have united in spreading awareness of devastating fires in Australia, and with their art reaching thousands, are able to not only spread awareness but to also help bring in even more donations. 

Thank you to all the artists for expressing their pain in a way that contributes. 

After drought took their water and bushfire took their food, the New South Wales Minister for Energy and Environment announced the "Operation Rock Wallaby"- airdropping food and water to some key colonies across the continent. Bless you, all!   

The Rescue Collective organization in Australia is going through some tough weeks since the devastating fires started in Australia. Yesterday, they posted a Survivor update: "it's been a tough week. So so so much loss. So much still to lose. Despite the heartache we are feeling as a country, we need to celebrate the small wins. Warm your heart with photos from some of the survivors you are supporting".  These people are our heroes! 

Aussie artist named Sharnia-Mae Sturm shared a touching illustration on New Year's Eve as news of Australia's bushfire crisis broke around the world. She came up with the idea while thinking about all the animals that have passed away and suddenly realized they'd all be safe in the loving arms of Steve Irwin. After all, Steve and his family were always ones to stand by the animals and are continuing his legacy by saving over 90,000 animals so far. People were moved by the cartoon with many saying it brought them to tears. 

Two Aussie teens, 19-year-old Micah and 18-year-old Caleb, have been named heroes for driving around and loading up their car with injured koalas, in Kangaroo Island. 

Storyful reported that the teens delivered the koalas to their neighbor, who has a permit to care for wildlife.

Micah Lovegrove, one of the heroic teens, decided to go on this impromptu rescue mission after witnessing a koala with nowhere to go, when his uncle's property burned down. 

In a video first posted on Reddit, you can see a car filled with poor, exhausted koalas. And in the background, an eerie sight of a road that is lined by blackened trees. 

Unsure of how many koalas they rescued, they assume it's around 20 and of that 20, six of the poor marsupials were orphaned and two of them were mothers with children.

Still, that's 20 more koalas saved. And we're beyond thankful to both Micah and Caleb. 

It is very important to mention that these koalas from Kangaroo Island were not taken to the mainland where they could be affected by Chlamydia and therefore unable to return back to their home on the Island. 

Chlamydia in koalas can cause blindness, bladder inflammation, infertility and death. As the island's koalas are isolated and free of the disease, its introduction would devastate the population.

"It's understandable and heartening that people want to rescue these animals, but unfortunately it will mean that those koalas can't be returned to the island because of the risk of contamination of the population there," said Brenton Grear, Department for Environment and Water bushfire recovery coordinator.

If anyone out there reads this and decided to drive and rescue koalas -- do not take them to the main land. "We ask that anyone on Kangaroo Island who finds injured wildlife call SAVEM on 0477 055 233 or email info@savem.org.au," says Grear.

Story via LADBible

Meet the goodest boy we know of right now -- Bear! 

Bear is a koala detection dog. That is his job. And since the fires started raging in Australia this past September, Bear has been hard at work scouring the Earth for koalas. 

Bear is a blue-eyed border collie/koolie mix who works with the University of Sunshine Coast (USC) Detection Dogs for Conservation. Bears job is to sniff out sick, orphaned and injured koalas across New South Wales and Queensland (both of which had taken on the fires rampage the hardest). 

According to the USC site, Bear was rescued from a shelter and has an endless supply of energy, an obsessive nature, and is completely uninterested in humans -- which turns out doesn't make for a great pet, but they're the exact qualities he needs to locate and track koalas. (Sometimes he looks for other marsupials, like the endangered Northern quoll.) 

USC Detection Dogs for Conservation Senior Research Dr. Celine Frere said in a news release, "Bear is highly focused and brilliant at focusing on one thing – his ball which is his reward, which makes him perfectly suited for the job. He also has zero prey drive which is essential for a wildlife detection dog as they need to focus purely on the scent and not the animal, ultimately ignoring the animal."

Bear was trained by USC academic and also works in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Story via Mother Nature Network

 A water tanker driver in the fires zone in Australia got an unexpected cab mate who he called: "Ray of sunshine after nightmare"

Story via: Sydney Morning Herald

Spread the word -- we all can help in more ways than one! 

With the Australian fires claiming nearly half a million animal lives, there are thousands (if not millions) more that are injured and in need of certain suppliers from those who sew!

Pouches, koala mittens, bat wraps and carry bags -- the provided patterns listed below are the items that Australia is in dire need of!  

If you were looking to help the animals in need and didn't know how -- this is your chance! 

The horrific brushfires in Southern Australia are still raging on — displacing thousands of people, wiping out millions of acres, destroying hundreds of homes and killing almost half a billion total mammals, birds and reptiles, since it sparked in September.
With strong winds and high temperatures expected to come in, officials are warning residents that they could create incredibly dangerous conditions — even worse than past weeks. 

With all these horrifying outcomes, you may be wondering how you can help. 

So here are some wildlife charities and organizations you can show your love and donate to during this devastating time.