Caught in My Web: Animals of the California Fires

Image by Luc Viatour at Wikimedia Commons

The current California wildfires have been rapidly destroying livelihoods, lifestyles and lives. The damage is horrific and recovery will take time, effort, and lots of support. When fires of this magnitude happen, what happens with our animal friends? We explore this with this edition of Caught in My Web.

1. Sarah Zielinski from National Geographic wrote a very informative article about how wildfires affect wild animals.

2. But while wild animals often have the freedom and abilities to escape the worst effects of fire, those protected in sanctuaries generally do not and have to evacuate.

3. Domesticated farm animals also need to seek refuge, and meeting the needs for large numbers of large animals can be a challenge.

4. Many people have been forced to flee so quickly that they lost contact with their beloved pets. But here is a heartwarming story of two brothers that returned to find their home destroyed and their beloved dog, Izzy, wagging her tail from the rubble.

5. But life does not pause when disaster strikes. Amid the wildfires, the Santa Rosa Wildlife Preserve welcomed the addition of a new baby Nile lechwe (an endangered species of antelope), who is healthy and strong. Their press release states, "It is easy to focus on the darkness in times of trouble but hopefully, stories like ours of a baby born in the midst of disaster, will remind us to see the light".

Do you want to do something to help the animals affected by the California fires? Here is how.