Australia is having its worst bushfire season in recent memory and it’s been an uphill battle for the entire country. But while climate change denying politicians are getting roasted on international TV and Scott Morrison is using the bushfires for tone-deaf photo opportunities, we’re facing a danger that’s flown a bit under the radar: a full blown biosecurity risk.
According to the ABC, hundreds of thousands of animals have perished or been injured in the bushfires, many of which are livestock. With the fires leaving dead livestock in its wake, and many more needing to be euthanised due to their injuries, the countless animal carcasses left out in the open has resulted in a biosecurity hazard to humans.
Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie says that the biosecurity risk is so great that Australia’s Defence Force has been called in to help with the digging of mass graves in order to properly dispose of the animal carcasses.
“It’s about getting access to those still-live firegrounds but where it’s safe to do so we need to be getting in within a week to really be dealing with the carcasses in an appropriate way”.
In addition to the Australian Defence Force helping to dig mass graves (on top of their other contributions to the disaster effort), McKenzie has also enlisted vets across the country to take care of or euthanise injured animals.
“I’ve got 100 vets across the country I’ve offered to state [agriculture] ministers.
“I know South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales will be taking up that offer to get that assistance as soon as possible — to not just assess the health, but these teams will also be euthanasing stock.”
This biosecurity hazard is another blow to Australia and its decimated wildlife population, with around 500 million animals and plant life estimated to have perished in bushfires since September 2019.
While the country struggling to fight the bushfires and Scott Morrison not exactly being the inspiring leader Australia needs right now, at least we’ve got people around the world helping out in any way they can.
We’ll get through this latest biosecurity hazard, as we have with all previous bushfire-related crises that’s hit us so far, but spare a thought to the people and the Australian Defence Force who are tasked with cleaning up all the animal carcasses that are strewn across our ravaged country.