In attempts to save starving animals trapped in Australian wildfires, the government used helicopters and airplanes to fly over bushland and canyons to feed them by dropping sweet potatoes and carrots down from the skies.
The service, dubbed "Operation Rock Wallaby", was commissioned by the New South Wales government to send vegetables to feed brush-tailed rock wallabies.
Operation Rock Wallaby 🦘- #NPWS staff today dropped thousands of kgs of food (Mostly sweet potato and carrots) for our Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby colonies across NSW 🥕🥕 #bushfires pic.twitter.com/ZBN0MSLZei
— Matt Kean MP (@Matt_KeanMP) January 11, 2020
The environment minister for New South Wales, Matt Kean, said on his Twitter that staff dropped thousands of kilograms of food.
One happy customer 🦘🥕🥕🥕🥕#operationrockwallaby #AustralianFires pic.twitter.com/wtzMgeaX6D
— Matt Kean MP (@Matt_KeanMP) January 11, 2020
Brush-tailed rock-wallaby were considered endangered even before the wildfires began. Now the animals are one of many Australian species under serious threat of extinction following dramatic developments in the country.
Earlier, search dogs were deployed by Australian rescue teams to save koalas in bushland and canyons.
Earlier, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that at least 25 people have died, 2,000 homes have been destroyed, and 15 million hectares have been scorched across the country since the wildfires began in September. The state of New South Wales (NSW) has been particularly hard hit. Some 1,000 homes were destroyed in NSW only this January. Authorities have issued emergency warnings as temperatures are expected to soar to 40 degrees Celsius and strong winds will hamper firefighting efforts.
