Many animals were also involved in the fires in the Amazon, killed or seriously injured by the flames, which the volunteers try to rescue
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himDuring the fires that hit the Amazon rainforest unfortunately they have remained in recent months numerous animals were also involved, injured or killed by the flames.
To date, in the Chiquitanía region alone, near Santa Cruz in Bolivia, six million acres of forest have been destroyed, an area equal to the surface of Vermont.
The fires had devastating and unprecedented consequences for Amazonian wildlife and it will likely be impossible to tell how many animals died during the fires.
A recovery center temporary inside the Hotel Biotermal Aguas Calientes on the outskirts of Santa Cruz, to provide rescue and rehabilitation care for wild animals victims of fires.
Since its opening, the employees of the Bolivian wildlife recovery center Centro de Rescate Para Víctimas de Incendios Biotermal have traveled every day to the areas affected by the fires to try to recover and rescue surviving animals and to leave them water and corn.
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During their excursions, the biologist Raúl Ernesto Rojas and the other volunteers of the center found hundreds of bones and charred bodies: the flames did not spare any species, not even the fastest ones like monkeys.
The staff managed arand recover only 70 animals alive, many of them brought to the center by the citizens of Aguas Calientes, who collaborate with volunteers to rescue wildlife.
Toucans, parrots, turtles, badgers continually arrive at the center and many of them die after a few hours or days, as happened to Milagros, a horse who suffered fourth-degree burns all over his body and lung damage from inhaling too much smoke.
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Two weeks ago, volunteers rescued Valentina, a anteater whose paws were covered with third-degree burns. Like many of the animals that come to the recovery center, Valentina too was starving and dehydrated and her severe injuries resulted in a coma that lasted more than 18 hours.
Fortunately, he is better now and, if he does make a complete recovery, he will come released into freedom or sent to the Santa Cruz Zoo to follow long-term care, a fate that unites all animals that manage to survive.
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For volunteers who work in the rescue center every success is a victory and every life counts, but Valentina has been luckier than others and is one of the few specimens to be saved.
In fact, many animals are unable to survive because, although the center is working tirelessly to save them, the volunteers do not have access to sufficient economic resources and suitable equipment to diagnose injuries and internal damage.
The team is afraid that they will not be able to look after the animals for much longer, because the economic resources are limited. Now in Bolivia it is election time and the government is using the media coverage given by the interventions in favor of animals to obtain consensus: the volunteers fear that after the election, everyone will forget about the animals.
In Brazil the situation is not very different: many animals are unable to escape and die in fires and the specimens that manage to escape often suffer serious injuries or are orphaned.
By the government there is no interest in helping injured animals, who are often helped by the firefighters, but they are not trained and equipped to rescue the fauna. In addition, there are only two centers in all of Brazil where animals can receive long-term care and both are located in places away from the areas most affected by the flames.
The indifference towards the situation of the animals affected by the fires is incredible, since they are hundreds and hundreds of specimens: such high and rapid losses within the wild flora are very relevant for ecosystems and can o compromise the future of the planet.
Read also:
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- Fires in the Amazon: from the giant armadillo to the crowned eagle, 265 animal and plant species are at risk of extinction
- Other than NGOs, the blame for the fires in the Amazon lies with farmers and ranchers: the response of indigenous and environmentalists to Bolsonaro
- The Apocalypse is here, in San Paulo it becomes night due to too much smoke (and nitrogen monoxide) that comes from the fires in the Amazon
Tatiana Maselli
Photo credit: Rescue for Biothermal Fire Victims
