Since early November, 24 people have been arrested for intentionally setting fires in the state of New South Wales. The fires have continued to burn all through-out December and into 2020. So far, the fires have destroyed more than 1,400 homes, killed 24 people, torched more than 15.6 million acres, and, according to one biodiversity expert’s count, an estimated 1 billion animals killed. They show no signs of stopping, many wild life has been killed and the animals that did survive would have no home to go to.

Many koalas, kangaroos, and wallabies have died or lost their homes. Even though koalas are  not ‘functionally extinct’ they are endangered and risk lowering their numbers drastically. “The fires have been devastating for Australia’s wildlife and wild places, as massive areas of native bushland, forests and parks have been scorched,” Stuart Blanch, an environmental scientist with the World Wildlife Fund in Australia, told USA TODAY. Many forests will take many decades to recover, he said.

What can I do to help victims of the Australia fires?

The best way to help? Take a minute to learn about what caused the Australia fires.

“Climate change is super-charging our natural disaster risks,” Greg Mullins, former Fire and Rescue commissioner of New South Wales, told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I wish we were wrong, but we’re not.”

Donations are greatly appreciated and anything would be very help full –> here is the link to the Australian Red Cross.

(The American Red Cross is also accepting donations for bushfire relief efforts. More at redcross.org.)