Emergency Response to Australia's Black Summer 2019–2020
animals Commentary Emergency Response to Australia’s Black Summer 2019–2020: The Role of a Zoo-Based Conservation Organisation in Wildlife Triage, Rescue, and Resilience for the Future Marissa L. Parrott 1,*, Leanne V. Wicker 1,2, Amanda Lamont 1, Chris Banks 1, Michelle Lang 3, Michael Lynch 4, Bonnie McMeekin 5, Kimberly A. Miller 2, Fiona Ryan 1, Katherine E. Selwood 1, Sally L. Sherwen 1 and Craig Whiteford 1 1 Wildlife Conservation and Science, Zoos Victoria, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; lwicker@zoo.org.au (L.V.W.); alamont@zoo.org.au (A.L.); cbanks@zoo.org.au (C.B.); fryan@zoo.org.au (F.R.); kselwood@zoo.org.au (K.E.S.); ssherwen@zoo.org.au (S.L.S.); cwhiteford@zoo.org.au (C.W.) 2 Healesville Sanctuary, Badger Creek, VIC 3777, Australia; kmiller@zoo.org.au 3 Marketing, Communications & Digital Strategy, Zoos Victoria, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; mlang@zoo.org.au 4 Melbourne Zoo, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; mlynch@zoo.org.au 5 Werribee Open Range Zoo, Werribee, VIC 3030, Australia; bmcmeekin@zoo.org.au * Correspondence: mparrott@zoo.org.au Simple Summary: In the summer of 2019–2020, a series of more than 15,000 bushfires raged across Citation: Parrott, M.L.; Wicker, L.V.; Australia in a catastrophic event called Australia’s Black Summer. An estimated 3 billion native Lamont, A.; Banks, C.; Lang, M.; animals, and whole ecosystems, were impacted by the bushfires, with many endangered species Lynch, M.; McMeekin, B.; Miller, K.A.; pushed closer to extinction. Zoos Victoria was part of a state-led bushfire response to assist wildlife, Ryan, F.; Selwood, K.E.; et al.
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