As bushfires tear through Victoria, confused emergency responses, missing resources and government inaction are leaving Australia’s wildlife to suffer and die, writes Sue Arnold.
THE DEVASTATING FIRES in Victoria have burned an estimated 400,000 hectares, an area five times larger than Singapore, in the most cleared state in Australia.
According to Professor Euan Ritchie, the extent of clearance makes it more difficult for animals to find suitable habitat. As the wildlife mortality is very significant, any survivors face a grim future.
Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction in the world. The record flies in the face of the UN Climate Action website, which says, ‘Biodiversity — our strongest natural defence against climate change’, indicating nature is in crisis, with up to one million species threatened with extinction.
Yet state and federal Labor governments, and the Coalition Opposition, continue to ensure biodiversity loss is firmly locked up in the political closet. Climate change impacts pose negligible priority with the Albanese Government approving 32 fossil fuel projects. Biodiversity losses are ignored and no government is prepared to address Australia’s catastrophic loss of iconic species and ecosystems.
Professor Ritchie says Australia has lost nearly 40 per cent of its forests. He warns that without clear policies to regenerate degraded areas and protect existing tracts on a massive scale, Australia stands to lose a large proportion of its remaining biodiversity.
The Victorian Labor Government is leading the way with inadequate environmental legislation and a complete failure to plan for and provide the assistance needed in major bushfires for wildlife. As a result, Victoria’s wildlife is in grave jeopardy.
Wildlife shelters across the fire areas are left to cope with burned, injured animals with limited government assistance from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), the agency responsible for wildlife. The sheer volume of koalas, kangaroos, bats, dingoes and many other species impacted is creating a heavy burden on shelter volunteers trying to cope with exhaustion, a lack of enough vets, feed, meds and funds for transporting sick animals to any available vet clinic.
If any member of the public Googles to find out who to call if they locate a burned, injured animal, the results are Wildlife Victoria or DEECA.
Whilst DEECA's website states the agency responds to wildlife during emergencies, including fire, rescue volunteers have told IA that DEECA teams are shooting animals that could survive. No information is available on where teams are located or who is involved in the teams.
IA called Wildlife Victoria, which provides a 24-hour hotline, to request identification of any shelters in the Otways. A number of posts on Facebook and an article in The Guardian indicated major concerns over potential losses and an urgent need for help.
Wildlife Victoria was unable to identify any shelter in the Otways and IA was told to Google the information. Two organisations came up on Google: Wildlife Victoria and DEECA.
IA contacted RSPCA Victoria requesting details of the number of koalas and other wildlife brought into their koala hospital jointly under the care of the RSPCA and Zoos Victoria.
The koala hospital was funded by more than $3 million, including $1.5 million donated during the 2019-2020 bushfires. The hospital was fully operational by 2022, stating its specific purpose of caring for koalas and other wildlife. The facility is known as the RSPCA Koala Ward.
IA requested details of the number of koalas and other wildlife brought into the koala hospital during the current bushfires.
RSPCA’s response is concerning.
Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo’s RSPCA Koala Ward and Kyabram Fauna Park have not yet received inpatients from these fires.
Please note that Werribee Open Range Zoo’s RSPCA Koala Ward has been designed with the specific requirements of koalas in mind but is fully capable of treating and rehabilitating all wildlife requiring treatment, not just koalas.
The RSPCA’s Mobile Animal Care Unit is prepared for use and has been offered to relevant authorities for deployment — when it is safe to do so. The mobile unit continues to be parked.
Why?
RSPCA’s response:
‘DEECA wildlife assessment teams will assess the situation and determine whether further support and resources are required through the Wildlife Emergency Support Network (WESN).’
The WESN is the responsibility of DEECA:
‘The purpose of the Wildlife Emergency Support Network (WESN) is to improve wildlife welfare outcomes through the development of a network of trained and accredited individuals from across the veterinary and wildlife welfare sectors who can be deployed as part of wildlife emergency response activities for bushfire and extreme heat events.’
DEECA’s website states:
‘DEECA responds to wildlife during emergencies. This includes wildlife affected by fire. DEECA is the lead agency to respond to wildlife welfare by fire in Victoria.’
Googling Victoria’s emergency responses to wildlife issues brings up Wildlife Victoria and DEECA’s Wildlife Victoria Emergency App, which states the app ‘provides a straightforward way to report wildlife impacted by bushfire’.
Confusion reigns. It’s almost impossible to identify which organisation is carrying out rescues, support and care, much less any information on the number of patients, if any.
In response to IA’s Google question – who helps wildlife suffering in the current Victorian bushfires? – the response indicates DEECA, Zoos Victoria, Parks Victoria and various trained wildlife rehabilitation groups not identified.
The DEECA website also directs people to the 44-page outdated ‘Victorian response plan for wildlife impacted by fire’ — a document that hasn’t created any changes to the Victorian Government’s inadequate responses to the recent history of terrible fires.
Several rescuers, in contact with WESN volunteers, advised IA that these WESN volunteers haven’t been called up and are deeply frustrated with the situation. Shelters contacted by IA have no idea where the WESN is operating, how many animals have been transported into care or if the network is even functioning.
Yet RSPCA Victoria says:
‘A triage unit comprising Zoos Victoria vets and vet nurses is awaiting deployment to the field as soon as it is safe to do so, as directed by DEECA as the lead agency.’
The RSPCA statement advises:
‘DEECA wildlife assessment teams will assess the situation and determine whether further support and resources are required through the Wildlife Emergency Support Network (WESN).’
According to the response document:
The WESN maintains a database of trained individuals available to be deployed by DELWP during an emergency. These individuals may then be deployed as part of DELWP led triage teams or field response teams.
Those defined roles include:
- triage veterinarians;
- triage veterinary nurses;
- triage unit assistants;
- field assessment team veterinarians; and
- field assessment team volunteers drawn from wildlife rescuers and authorised wildlife shelters and foster carers.
There’s little doubt that wildlife shelters, volunteers, including vets, are carrying the responsibility for impacted wildlife.
The Victorian population forecast for 2026 is 7,274,000, with 9,208,000 by 2046. Major urbanisation projects will further undermine wildlife, leaving inadequate habitat, at the mercy of vehicles, dogs, disease and death.
Total state plantations exceeding 380,000 hectares for all types make Victoria Australia’s largest plantation site. The recent fires destroyed a 10,000-hectare pine plantation.
In southwest Victoria alone, around 80,000 hectares of blue gum plantations have created more clearing and bushfire potential.
A significant bushfire broke out in Budj Bim National Park early last year burning at least 2,200 hectares or more. In January 2025, two major fires were burning in the state. In 2024-2025, fires burned in the Grampians, impacting 136,647 hectares of the national park. In 2019-2020, the Black Summer bushfires burned 326,000 hectares. In 2009, the Black Saturday bushfires burned 450,000 hectares.
The results? Wildlife are suffering painful injuries, loss of food and shelter, and there’s a lack of painkillers and suitable cages. Their trauma is horrific.
Victoria’s wildlife crises and the actions of government in dealing with bushfire impacts are worthy of a royal commission. Given the legacy of the lack of adequate policies and strong legislation to protect wildlife species, the bushfire responses can be described as a national scandal.
But will any major parties listen and act?
Sue Arnold is an IA columnist and freelance investigative journalist. You can follow Sue on Twitter @koalacrisis.
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