Everyone has been praying for Australia as they battle hundreds of out-of-control wildfires, to combat the habitat loss, the government is dropping food to help the starving, surviving animals.
New South Wales, Australia – The New South Wales government commissioned a project called ‘Operation Rock Wallaby’ to help save their Bush-Tailed Rock Wallaby populations. The marsupials successfully escaped fires which destroyed their natural environment and ended up in the surrounding national parks. While these parks are offering safety, they do not have the food required to sustain the Rock Wallaby populations.
The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service began doing food drops in the Capertree and Wolgan valleys, Yengo National Park, the Kangaroo Valley, and around Jenolan, Oxley Wild Rivers and Currancubundi national parks. Using helicopters and planes, they have been dropping thousands of carrots into the areas where the wildlife now lives.
As of the 12th of January, the project has dropped 2,200kg of fresh vegetables from the sky for the animals living below.
“The wallabies typically survive the fire itself but are then left stranded with limited natural food as the fire takes out the vegetation around their rocky habitat.
The wallabies were already under stress from the ongoing drought, making survival challenging for the wallabies without assistance.” – Matt Kean, environment minister for New South Wales
Usually, the government wouldn’t intervene but not only were the Wallabies affected by the fires, but also continued droughts.
“When we can, we are also setting up cameras to monitor the uptake of the food and the number and variety of animals there.”
The Wallaby was already classed as “at-risk” so the government wanted to offer a helping hand towards saving the species. The reason they used planes is that many roads have been destroyed and the only way into the parks now is via the skies.
Besides boxes of carrots, there have also been drops of grains and pellets. Our hearts are broken for the animals of Australia, we are so happy to hear that every effort is being made to save the surviving wildlife.
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