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Potawatomi Zoo to Raise Money for Australian Wildlife

Rick Rycroft
/
AP Photo

 

The Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend is using its first winter day opening to raise money for wildlife rehabilitation in Australia.

Raging bushfires across Australia are devastating human settlements and also impacting wildlife and their habitats. One Australian ecologist estimates nearly half a billion animals have died in the state of New South Wales alone. 

Potawatomi Zoo director Josh Sisk said the wildlife cost of the fires won’t be fully known for a while.

“The impact will be for years and it’ll take years to realize the actual impact that it actually has.”

Sisk said the animals that people know from Australia, like koalas and kangaroos, will likely be ok in the long run, but smaller groups of species with limited habitat will bear the brunt of the fires. 

“They may have been isolated to an island or to a small forest and that’s going to be the most devastating. When this is all said and done there could literally be species that are extinct because of these fires.”

Sisk said right now animal rescues need help and funding to try to save and rehabilitate burned animals.

This Saturday the zoo will be open from noon to 3 p.m. and all proceeds from admission will go to wildlife rescues in Australia.