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A billion animals have been caught in the fires. Some may go extinct.

Karin Brulliard and Darryl Fears

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The mouse-sized dunnart is not as iconic as the koalas or platypuses that draw tourists, but it is arguably the most special mammal on Australia's Kangaroo Island.

Now the Kangaroo Island dunnart's days may be numbered. Before bush fires struck, it was already endangered, so rare that even researchers who studied them had never seen one. Now they fear they never will. One-third of the 1700-square-mile island has burned, including the entire area where these dunnarts are known to live.

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    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/a-billion-animals-have-been-caught-in-the-fires-some-may-go-extinct-20200110-p53q9q