Out of the ashes: volunteer nursing Australia's bushfire affected native wildlife – part I.

The Australian Summer of 2019–2020 has brought us our worst bushfire season ever recorded, covering approximately 14 million hectares (34.6 million acres) of countryside, an area equivalent to almost 60% of the UK. A current estimate of losses includes 33 human lives, 3,000 homes and over I billion animals (wildlife, farm and domestic animals), including 8,000 koalas. Many of our native species were already threatened or endangered prior to the fires; their populations have now been decimated and their territories and food sources have been destroyed, leading to the starvation of many initial survivors. Wildlife carers have been overrun with injured and orphaned wildlife, with assistance coming from numerous individuals and organisations within Australia and overseas. One such group is the Australian-based international animal charity Vets Beyond Borders (VBB) and its Australian Veterinary Emergency Response Team (AVERT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]