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Australia: Five years after the “Black Summer” of fires, koalas are back on Kangaroo Island
Australia: Five years after the “Black Summer” of fires, koalas are back on Kangaroo Island
(SPECIAL ENVOY / FRANCE 2)
In 2020, Australia experienced an ecological tragedy: eight months of terrible fires that decimated the fauna and flora of Kangaroo Island, a sanctuary for kangaroos and koalas. Nearly five years later, against all odds, the island has regenerated. “Envoyé spécial” was able to observe the return of koalas among the eucalyptus trees.
It was a Black Summer, a black summer. In 2020, Kangaroo Island, off the coast of Australia, was ravaged by endless fires. The biggest ecological disaster in its history. In this sanctuary for koalas and kangaroos, more than 32,000 animals perished in the flames.
Yet nearly five years later, the island offers a formidable example of nature’s resilience, which scientists from all over the country come to study. “Envoyé spécial” accompanied a team of researchers there.
Surprisingly, the fires even seem to have revitalized some species. Not only has a lush forest replaced a pile of ash, but animals are also back. Even koalas, hampered by their poor survival instincts. The island used to have 40,000 of them, but the species has been hit hard: if the flames reach the tops of the trees as they did in the 2020 fires, they are trapped because that is where they seek refuge, explains Bronte Fairclough, a koala expert at Flinders University.
With her group, she counted 20 individuals in total in this eucalyptus plantation that these marsupials love, eight more than last year. After the fires, they very quickly found something to eat thanks to a surprising property of the eucalyptus: it is a tree that fire regenerates. The combustion releases the seeds from the capsules stored in the canopy, which give rise to new shoots.
Koalas are even re-establishing themselves in areas that had burned, notes one of the scientists, who spots them using a thermal camera installed on a drone. “Only two months after the fires, she remembers, We saw the trees here start to grow again quickly. Since then, I see them growing a meter and a half every year. They are growing very quickly.” Very good news for koalas…
Excerpt from “When Australia Rises from the Ashes”, a report to watch in “Special Envoy” on September 12, 2024.
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