australia

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.   

We're positive Steve himself would be BEYOND proud of how hard his family is working to save the animals from this devastating fire in Australia. 

The fire in Australia has taken so much wildlife with it's destruction. However, not all hope is lost. Hope can be found in the Irwin name, where it can always be found. 

The legendary "Crocodile Hunter" has quite the incredible family who have dedicated their lives to continuing the family legacy as "wildlife warriors." And they are certainly living up to it. 

Thousands of Australians have been stepping up to save their land, whether that be volunteering to confront the waves of fire, donating to animal hospitals and charities, or working nonstop to mitigate the effects of the disaster. And among these incredible Australias is Bindi Irwin, Steve Irwin's daughter.

Story via TheMindUnleashed

It's hard to share such devastating news. 

It has been reported that nearly 500 million animals have perished since the start of the raging fires. 

500 million. That's half a billion. 

According to the University of Sydney, ecologists now estimate 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles have tragically been lost since September. 

Entire species of plants and animals are endangered of being completely wiped out. 

If you're unsure just how insanely large this fire really is, The Guardian has published an interactive map stating the scale of the fire is 1.5 times the size of Belgium, just to give some perspective. 

We pray this horror ends soon without any more damage to the wildlife. 

Story via NZHerald

Twitter is in tears after a video of a woman rescuing a badly burnt and wailing koala from a bushfire went viral. The koala was spotted crossing a road amongst the flames when a local woman, who told Nine News her name was Toni, rushed to the koala's aid, wrapping the animal in her shirt and pouring water over it. Toni then transported the injured koala to the nearby Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, a facility that is treating up to 15 affected koalas.   

Little Gus, Digger and Bandit are among the dogs wagging their tails at the Huon Show dog high jump in Tasmania, Australia. As friends and newly-won fans cheered on, it wasn't all about which pooch could jump highest, but instead, just giving it your best go.

Jimmy the dog fell down a cliff-face at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia. Fortunately for the stranded adventurer, help was on the way. It is worth mentioning, at this point, that Jimmy was still wagging his tail when rescue crews managed to reach him.

Video via @julianprice_