More than 300,000 people have been forced to leave their homes as some of the largest wildfires in decades continue to burn across Spain and France.
Thousands of firefighters are battling the flames, while forests, farmland and entire communities have been left blackened. But there is one question no one can answer: How many animals have died?
The honest answer is that nobody knows.
Unlike human casualties, wildlife deaths are rarely counted during large wildfires. Governments keep track of burned land, damaged homes and evacuated people, but there is no official system to estimate how many wild animals are killed.
A silent toll
The fires have burned tens of thousands of hectares of forests, grasslands and farmland in Spain and France. These landscapes are home to deer, wild boar, foxes, rabbits, birds, reptiles, amphibians and countless insects.
Some animals escape by running or flying away. Many cannot.
Young birds still in nests, hedgehogs, reptiles, amphibians and slow-moving mammals often have little chance when fast-moving flames sweep through their habitat. Insects, which make up most animal life in many ecosystems, can also die in huge numbers.
Even animals that survive the fire face new dangers. Food disappears, shelter is lost and many suffer burns, smoke inhalation or dehydration. Some later die because they can no longer find enough to eat or avoid predators.
Wildlife rescue centres in southern Europe have reported treating animals with burns, dehydration and smoke-related injuries after previous wildfire seasons.
Scientists say wildfires are becoming more frequent and more intense in parts of southern Europe as rising temperatures, drought and dry vegetation create ideal conditions for fires to spread.
While no estimate exists for the wildfires currently burning in Spain and France, past disasters show how devastating fires can be for wildlife. Following Australia’s 2019–2020 “Black Summer” bushfires, scientists estimated that around 3 billion animals were killed, injured or displaced. The figure did not include insects, or many other species, suggesting the overall toll was even higher.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theanimalreader.com
