Fire removes low-growing underbrush, cleans the forest floor of debris, opens it up to sunlight, and nourishes the soil. Reducing this competition for nutrients allows established trees to grow stronger and healthier. History teaches us that hundreds of years ago forests had fewer, yet larger, healthier trees.

A large bushfire can cause multiple direct impacts: on life and property, on the survival of fauna populations, on water resources, and indirectly on government budgets and insurance costs. A large bushfire will also generate huge amounts of smoke.

The immediate impact of bushfires can be devastating, with loss of life, livelihoods and infrastructure at the fire fronts; and increased morbidity and mortality in smoke affected regions, which can often be far from the fires themselves. …

Risks. Bushfires can cause serious property and infrastructure damage and lead to loss of life. The fire itself is only one element of the danger. Fire embers can spread many kilometres from the location of a large bushfire, causing smaller spot fires to break out.

The most devastating impact on humans is that bushfires have killed over 800 people since 1851. In addition to loss of life, homes, properties, and livestock are destroyed potentially leaving people homeless, traumatised, and without access to electricity, telecommunications and, in some cases, to drinking water.

The full health and related impacts of the 2019–20 bushfires will not be known for some time; however, psychological health can be affected for many years and, while more research is needed into the effects of long-term exposure to bushfire smoke specifically, long-term exposure to air pollution is potentially related …

Heart and cardiovascular conditions: Smoke from bushfires can get into the bloodstream, contributing to inflammation and the narrowing of blood vessels. This can worsen existing conditions such as high blood pressure or heart failure. Read the Heart Foundation factsheet on bushfires and heart health.

Bushfire and ecology Fires can also free these plants from competition with invasive weeds and eliminate disease or droves of insects that may have been causing damage to the old growth. Research shows bushfires help provide nutrients that native vegetation specifically needs to rejuvenate and seed.

Reduce your grassfire and bushfire risk

1. regularly mowing the grass and raking up leaves.
2. removing weeds and pruning bushes and trees.
3. keeping garden beds moist through mulching or other non-flammable ground covers like pebbles.
4. regularly clearing leaves from gutters, roofs, downpipes and around the base of trees.

Immediate Impact on GDP and Wealth More than 10 million hectares have burned during the bushfire crisis, about half of that in NSW, Australia’s biggest economy. Westpac has estimated that the bushfire crisis will cost Australia $5 billion in direct losses and reduce economic growth by 0.2 to 0.5 per cent.

8,000

Koalas are considered vulnerable to extinction—just a step above endangered—and reports indicate that between 350 and a thousand koalas have been found dead so far in fire-devastated zones of northern New South Wales.

10,000 koalas

So, are koalas dangerous? Koalas, in general, are not dangerous unless they feel threatened. If they are stressed or scared by a human, they can chase them up to a long-distance and then bite and scratch them with the help of long sharp front teeth and sharp claws.

Danger for koalas Koala predators include: dingoes, owls, lizards, and people. Koalas sometime get run over by cars. They also die because people cut Eucalyptus trees. Instead of jumping from tree to tree, they walk and dingoes or other predators get them.

The koalas’ predators include dingoes, wild dogs, Bunjil or Wedge-tailed Eagles, Owls, pythons and even goannas. Koalas are threated both on trees and on ground by their predators. Furthermore; dingoes and wild dogs are capable of killing any sized of koalas on the ground.

13 – 18 yearsIn the wild

Today the natural predators of the Koala do not make a significant impact on wild populations. They include goannas dingoes, powerful owls, wedge-tailed eagles, and pythons, all of which are most likely to prey upon juvenile Koalas. Feral animals are another threat Koalas have had to face since European settlement.

Koalas have special physical characteristics that complement their tree-dwelling lifestyle. With two opposable digits, their forepaws are well-adapted to gripping branches and picking eucalyptus leaves, their main form of nourishment. In addition, eucalyptus leaves are highly fibrous and poisonous to other animals.

Koalas form the backbone of a lucrative tourism industry, which could be at risk if they become extinct. We have identified that more than 1,000 of these species live in Koala forests. If these forests are protected, it saves our Government a staggering $1 billion. “If we can’t save the Koala, we can’t save anything.”

According to the koala experts, koalas lack intellectual abilities. Despite looking very cute and cuddly, koalas are considered neither smart nor intelligent and even considered as dumb. Despite being very cute, they are considered as sluggish and dumb creatures by many researchers.