Published 12:54 IST, January 16th 2020
Australia: Firefighters save world's last dinosaur-era trees from bushfires
With Australia being plagued by wildfires, firefighters managed to save the Wollemi grove of pine trees from the fires. The trees are 90 million years old
With Australia still being plagued by raging wildfires, firefighters managed to save the Wollemi grove of pine trees from the fires. According to reports, the ancient grove is said to be 90 million years old and exists in a discreet location within the 1,930-square-mile radius of Wollemi National Park. The ancient trees were considered to be extinct until the year 1994 but officials found 200 of the pre-historic trees located in the Wollemi national park near the Blue Mountains.
Firefighters save an ancient grove of pine trees
According to reports, the grove's location had been wrecked by the bushfires that have plagued Australia since the month of September 2019. The bushfires have claimed about 27 million acres of land across Australia's southeastern region. According to reports, bushfires burned the majority of the trees in Wollemi National Park but the ancient pine trees remained untouched as air tankers dropped a fire retardant (a substance used to slow or stop the fire) and firefighters set up irrigation systems.
As raging bushfires burnt towards the ancient grove, firefighters activated the irrigation systems while an aircraft dropped water on the fire to considerably reduce its impact. New South Wales (NSW) state environment minister, Matt Kean said that a few trees had completely been burnt down but the trees have survived the bushfires. Kean did not specify the time of the operation but NSW's Rural fire service said that with the arrival of a downpour, the Gospers mountain fires was now under control.
Dire situation for Koala population in Australia
According to reports, an estimated 37,000 koalas have been killed in the wildfires so far. According to Steven Selwood of South Australia Veterinary Emergency Management, there are only 9,000 koalas that remain out of the 46,000 that were thought to be on the Kangaroo island before this year's bushfire.
Australia's environment minister, Susan Ley stated that koalas have been put under the endangered species category after their population was by the ongoing bushfires in the country. Some experts estimated that 80 per cent of koala habitat on Kangaroo Island had been wiped out after the island was ravaged by fire. The bushfire has claimed the lives of almost a billion animals and destroyed more than 1,000 homes.
Updated 12:54 IST, January 16th 2020