16 Year-Old Robert Irwin Barely Holds Back Tears While Discussing Plight of the Koalas Post-Fire: WATCH
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The son of The Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, Robert, tried explaining the real scale of the damage done by the wildfire with his mom Terri and had a hard time holding back his tears while his mom spoke about the impact on the vulnerable koala population. Since half a billion animals were potentially lost in the Australian bushfires, the Irwin family has already helped over 90,000 animals.
Robert and his mom Terri Irwin spoke with Sunrise, trying to explain the real impact of the bushfires on the Australian wildlife. “We’re able to offer a safe haven for wildlife needing help,” Terri Irwin told Sunrise.
Her son Robert continued saying they’re seeing all kinds of different injuries. They are currently attending to possums, birds, koalas, platypus and many other types of animals being looked after at the purpose-built facility.
“Koala instinct is to go up, as safety is in the top of the tree,” Terri explained. “Eucalyptus trees have so much oil that they ignite and actually explode in a fire. That means being able to treat and help koalas is few and far between because they’re basically incinerated.”
“It could be necessary to enlist koalas as endangered species after this devastating event.”
16-year-old son Robert was having a hard time holding back the tears as his mom elaborated on the situation of the koala population saying, “We’re just trying to do our best to help in any way we can, but it’s an absolutely horrific situation. We’re heartbroken.” One of the firefighters working in the fire zone, Damian Campbell-Davys, saw the situation and said: “Kangaroos can hop away, but koalas can’t escape.”
"Being able to treat and help koalas is few and far between because they're basically incinerated"
Terri Irwin chats about the devastating impact of Australia's bushfires on our vulnerable koala population.
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— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) January 5, 2020