Australia Fires: Number Of Animals Feared Dead Soars To Over 1 Billion

The number of wildlife estimated to have died in Australia’s wildfire catastrophe has skyrocketed to more than 1 billion. Chris Dickman, an ecologist at the University of Sydney, told HuffPost that his original estimate of 480 million animals was not only conservative, it was also exclusive to the state of New South Wales and excluded significant groups of wildlife for which they had no population data. “The original figure ― the 480 million ― was based on mammals, birds and reptiles for which we do have densities, and that figure now is a little bit out of date. It’s over 800 million given the extent of the fires now ― in New South Wales alone,” he said. “If...