

Two species known as the glassy black cockatoos and the dunnarts may have been completely wiped out in the raging Australian bushfires, according to reports.
The populations of the two species are under threat as fires ravage their home of Kangaroo Island off the southern coast of the country, the Independent reported.
At least one-third of the island has been destroyed, putting both species’ survival at risk, experts said.
Heidi Groffen, an ecologist with nonprofit Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife, said the dunnarts, a type of marsupial, in particular are too small to outrun the wildfires.
Groffen’s colleague, ecologist Pat Hodgens, said they have installed cameras to detect any survivors, as well as used drone mapping to zero in on potential areas where the species may have been able to survive.
“The Kangaroo Island dunnart is our main species of concern and it looks like its entire known [habitat] range has been fried,” Hodgens told the outlet. “We are locating unburnt remnant patches of its habitat to see if we can locate it through camera trapping.”
Meanwhile, experts are fretting about a unique flock of the rare glossy black cockatoos. Even if the birds escaped the blazes, it’s unclear whether they’ll survive now that their habitat has been destroyed by the fires.
“We don’t know the extent of the damage on the [Kangaroo Island] glossy habitat but we do know that critical areas of feeding and breeding areas have been burnt. Currently a waiting game,” said Daniella Teixera, an ecologist with the University of Queensland.
Australia’s Department of the Environment and Energy said the areas impacted by the blazes need to be declared safe before officials can begin to determine the extent of the damage to wildlife.






