Granby Zoo has raised $100,00 in funds to donate to Australia’s wildlife relief.
Less than two weeks after the zoo set out to raise money for the Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund, it raised $80,000 from crowdfunding and donated its own $20,000.
The zoo, located in Granby, Que., started the online fundraiser on Jan. 8 and had set out with a goal of raising $20,000, which was far exceeded.
The zoo said in a press release that the money will go to aid Australia’s wildlife and flora, which have been ravaged by the bushfires that have been burning since September.
According to the Australian Wildfire Fund, the fires have so far killed 28 people and one billion animals, and have burned more than 2,000 homes and 20 million acres of land.
For comparison, other recent wildfires, like the 2018 California fires and the 2019 Amazon, fires burned two million and 2.2 million acres of land, respectively.
The zoo said the money will go to scientist and zoological medical teams that are working to limit the fire’s impact on at-risk species, which were already classified as having conservation status.
“Your donations will serve directly to help these devoted men and women provide emergency veterinary care to surviving animals and meet the nutritional needs for the ones that have had their habitats destroyed,” the zoo’s statement said.
The fires have put Australia’s unique population of birds, reptiles and mammals such as koalas and kangaroos at risk.