3 things to know about the Australian bushfires

Animal population suffering: koala bears and birds dying, kangaroos flee

According to the Huffington Post (UK) Thursday, approximately half a billion animals are feared to be dead as a result of the blazes, a statistic that includes one-third of the koala population in their native habitat in the state of New South Wales.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said in a radio interview Friday that the estimated death toll is up to 8,000 of the nation’s koalas, around 30 percent of the national population of between 15,000 to 28,000.

“We’ll know more when the fires have calmed down and a proper assessment can be made,” she said.

Across social media, both video footage and photographs have been captured of kangaroos fleeing the flames in great numbers and unique birds to the region falling out of the sky.

University of Sydney ecologists estimate that since September, around 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles have died in the fires that have traversed the continent.