Skip to main content

Season for bush fires and bush koalas


As Australia approaches summer, the season of bush fires, there have already been significant bush fire threats across the country.

At the same time, the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra (Canberra Weekly, October 4, 2012), announced the birth of a female Southern Koala as part of a national breeding program. Her name is Matilda, and she joins two other resident koalas, Winston and Eucky, at the zoo. In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) around Canberra koala numbers are declining due to reduced or destroyed habitat – and bush fires.

Koala breeding season is from September to February: the height of the bush fire summer season. Gestation for koalas is about 35 day, so many of the new koalas during the summer will be quite young and vulnerable. A memorable image of the Victorian bush fires of February 2009 was Sam the Koala drinking from a fire fighter’s water bottle. Sam became famous as the “face” of the fire season, as it grabbed the fire fighter’s hand. The badly burned Sam became a symbol of hope for the survivors of the deadly bush fires that killed 173 people and left 7,500 homeless. During the fires, 22 koalas, 14 ringtail possums, several wallabies and eastern grey kangaroos were rescued and handed to wildlife carers.

However, Sam, the four-year-old koala, rescued from the fires, was diagnosed with burns to her paws and she was in a lot of pain. Recovering at the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter, she was administered an IV drip, antibiotics and pain relief treatment. However she developed cysts. Just before Sam was due to have surgery in August, the vet noticed that Sam – a female – had non-operable damage to her urinary and reproductive tracts. She was euthanized on August 6, 2009, and her body was moved to the Melbourne Museum for preservation as a symbol of the bush fires.

Canberra and the ACT experienced devastating bushfires in January 2003, which caused the loss of 4 lives, left over 500 homeless, and destroyed tree plantations, animals and animal habitats. Almost 70% of the territory’s pine forests and nature parks were damaged. The ACT Emergency Services Agency is encouraging Canberrans, and residents in dry locations, to prepare a Bushfire Survival Plan for the summer season. The official start of the bush fire season is October 1. The Bushfire Survival Plan’s motto is: Prepare. Act. Survive.

The factors that most determine the possibility, threat, and extent of a bush fire are rainfall, temperature, and wind. Having a Bushfire Survival Plan includes preparatory actions such as cutting long grass, clearing timber and long branches, and removing leaves from roof gutters. Bushfire Survival Plans can be downloaded from the ACT’s Emergency Services Agency website at esa.act.gov.au.

Anyone who finds injured wildlife should call Wildlife Connect on 13-11-11.

The photo image is from www.abc.net.au

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more