WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGERY BELOW
Many animals can't escape the large areas being burnt rapidly, particularly when the fires are lit from the air (see Point 3). The average aerial burn is 25 km sq. These are initially 'edged' by hand-burning ~200 m around the perimeter to reduce the risk of the burn escaping, which drives wildlife towards the middle of the area to be burnt. Aircraft then grid fire bomb the block every 100 - 200 m. Wildlife are trapped, unable to outrun the enveloping fire on all sides.
After wildfires, DBCA and volunteers will enter the area to euthanase animals, but this is not done after prescribed burns. As a result, many animals that do not die from the fire or from asphyxiation suffer slow deaths or are permanently maimed with horrific burns.
A recent report commissioned by The Humane Society as confirmed that prescribed burns have a significantly higher impact on animals than wildfires.
Even relatively well-managed hand-burns can cause significant wildlife deaths, particularly hollow-dwelling animals.
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