How rabbit kangaroos in Australia are supposed to prevent fires

The Australian animal world is richer by 20 rare long-snouted kangaroos: As part of a breeding program for the endangered marsupials that only live Down Under, the young animals have now been released into the wild in a protected area of ​​Barrington Tops National Park about 270 kilometers north of Sydney , the organization Aussie Ark announced on Friday. The special feature: The Potorous tridactylus, as it is called by its scientific name, is celebrated by experts as the “animal fire brigade”.

“It is one of the smallest and oldest members of the kangaroo family and is a living fossil that has remained relatively unchanged for about 10 million years,” Aussie Ark wrote. Still, many Australians would never have heard of the animal, known locally as the “Long-nosed Potoroo.” “This is all the more tragic when you consider the ecological role of the species, which can ultimately save human lives,” the animal rights activists emphasized.

Rabbit gangurus dig to fight bushfires

Long-snouted kangaroos primarily feed on underground mushrooms and truffles, explained Tim Faulkner, the organization’s president. These are dug up with their front paws, with the animals kicking up and digging up large amounts of foliage on the forest floor. This extraordinary behavior not only aids in leaf decomposition, but also keeps the soil moist and encourages the growth of new plants – ultimately mitigating the power of bushfires. Faulkner referred to the cute firefighters as “engineers of the Earth’s ecosystem.”

Appropriately, the local fire brigade even turned up to be part of the release. “I wish we could hire the animals with the troops,” smiled fire chief Brendan White.

Long-snouted kangaroos – also known as long-nosed kangaroos – are classified as Vulnerable, according to the Australian Department of the Environment. Most notably, the catastrophic bushfires of 2019 and 2020 drastically reduced their numbers.

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