SYDNEY, Australia — Thousands of wild animals, including koalas, kangaroos, birds and reptiles, are thought to have been killed or injured by bush fires that have razed national parks in Australia's largest state, officials said Thursday.
While no human lives have been lost, wildlife officials said countless animals have been unable to escape the fires that have rapidly engulfed hundreds of thousands of acres around the state capital Sydney and in the west of New South Wales.
The exact number of animals that have perished was not known, but estimates ran in the thousands.
Volunteers have rescued hundreds of injured animals, but many were so badly burned they had to be destroyed, said Carol MacDougall, chief executive officer of the New South Wales Wildlife Information and Rescue Service.
"We are getting a few in that we can actually help and we're doing that as best we can under the circumstances," MacDougall said. "Most of their injuries are shock, smoke inhalation, burns — just like humans."
On Thursday, police set up a task force to investigate whether arsonists were behind many of the approximately 100 fires that have destroyed homes, led to mass evacuations and reached the fringes of Sydney, Australia's largest city.
Animals are in danger in Sydney's southern suburbs, where the fiercest fires are raging and a number of national parks are situated.
MacDougall said animals that have escaped relatively unscathed from the flames are finding refuge in the backyards of homes near the fires.
"But as a result of that of course they're subjected to the possibility of dog and cat attacks," she said. "It's a very unpleasant situation for them to be placed in."
Brian Gilligan, director-general of the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Services, said the fierce nature of Australia's wildfires meant animals would have had little warning before the flames were on them.
"The vegetation has a very high oil content — eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil . . . that is so highly combustible and vaporizes so quickly and effectively explodes," Gilligan said.
More than 247,000 acres of national parks have burned in the last three days, and it would be about two years before the natural habitat of the animals had regenerated, he added.
Gilligan said the Parks and Wildlife service were advising people to contact wildlife rescue organizations if they found animals that were distressed or injured.
Authorities have said some 140 homes have been destroyed, while about 4,000 people have been evacuated. No serious injuries to people have been reported.