Wildlife affected by fire

One of the most regular wildlife emergencies that occur in Victoria is the impact of bushfires on native wildlife. Victoria has an extensive bushfire history, with most if not all of the incidents involving impacts on native wildlife, either directly through loss of life and injury, or indirectly through the temporary destruction of habitat.

The most recent bushfire began on Saturday 7 February 2009, known as Black Saturday, and continued to burn until 14 March 2009. Approximately 421,670 hectares of public and private land across Victoria was burnt during this period, which has been deemed to be Australia’s worst natural disaster. More than 1500 mammals, birds and reptiles injured in the fires were treated by volunteer wildlife carers and veterinarians, with many others having to be humanely destroyed.

The search and rescue of wildlife affected by fire is managed and coordinated by DEPI staff with the assistance of volunteers, who assess the animals on the fireground before transporting them to a treatment facility. Training wildlife rescue volunteers who operate at bushfire emergencies is a high priority.