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A third of Kangaroo Island, a paradise for rare wildlife, has been burned in Australia's wildfires, NASA images show

2020-01-08T17:29:29.883Z


The Kangaroo Island of Australia is famous for its untouched nature and for being home to several rare wild species such as the Dunnart kangaroo and the brilliant black cockatoo that was on the edge of the former…


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Fires in Australia: what you need to know 1:54

(CNN) - A third of the land on an Australian island that is a refuge for some of the unique wildlife and that is in danger of extinction has been razed by forest fires, NASA satellite images show.

The extent of the damage caused by the fire on Kangaroo Island in the state of South Australia was captured by NASA's Terra satellite on Tuesday. The devastation can be clearly seen, with scars of brown burns and active fires where once there was lush vegetation.

NASA estimates that 155,000 hectares of the island have been consumed by fires, calling it "an ecological tragedy."

  • The devastation of fires in Australia, in numbers

Located off the southern coast of Australia, Kangaroo Island is famous for its untouched nature. It contains protected natural reserves full of native wildlife, such as sea lions, koalas and various bird species.

The island is home to the Dunnart kangaroo, which is in danger of extinction, a small marsupial that is found only on the island, and the bright black cockatoo, which has been pushed to the brink of extinction in the last two decades.

  • Look: What you need to know about forest fires in Australia

The devastating flames have been sweeping the island since the end of December, killing two people, destroying 56 houses and damaging hundreds of buildings, according to the South Australian government.

The NASA image showed that much of the burned areas were in the west of the island, including the Flinders Chase National Park, where fires were initially caused by lightning. The park is a popular place to watch the platypus, one of the most beloved species in Australia.

The Southern Ocean Lodge, a luxury hotel near the Flinders Chase National Park, on Kangaroo Island, was destroyed by fires.

Ecologists estimate that around 25,000 koalas on Kangaroo Island have died in fires, which represents half of the island's marsupial population, according to NASA.

The island was once considered a safe haven for koalas because the population there was free of chlamydia, a disease that can cause blindness, infertility and death that prevails among koalas on the continent.

The llamas have been burning in Australia for months, razing houses and razing entire villages. Across the country, more than 7.3 million hectares of land have been burned, largely of thickets, forests and national parks, home to the country's beloved and unique wildlife.

According to a report by environmentalists at the University of Sydney, almost 500 million animals in the state of New South Wales have been affected by fires, with millions of people potentially dead. The total number of affected animals across the country could be as much as one billion, according to Christopher Dickman, an ecologist at the University of Sydney who led the report.

- Jessie Yeung of CNN contributed to this report.

Australia fires

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2020-01-08

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