Thousands of animals perish in the flames

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Arsonists blamed for spread of Sydney bushfires

Whlie no human lives have been lost in the bushfires, they are believed to have killed and injured thousands of native Australian animals including koalas and kangaroos.

Many possums, birds and reptiles have also died in national parks and bushland consumed by the fires over the past three days. Hundreds of animals have been rescued by volunteers, but many were so badly burnt that they had to be destroyed. Carol MacDougall, chief executive officer of the New South Wales Wildlife Information and Rescue Service, said: "We are getting a few in that we can actually help, and we're doing that as best we can under the circumstances."

Countless animals have been unable to escape the fires that have consumed hundreds of thousands of acres of bushland on the outskirts of Sydney and in rural areas to the west. Others are at risk in the Blue Mountains and Sydney's southern suburbs, where the fiercest fires are still raging. Flames have laid waste to the Royal National Park on the city's southern fringe.

Ms MacDougall said some of the animals that managed to escape the flames had taken refuge in the gardens of people living on the fringes of the fires, but they then faced the risk of being attacked by domestic pets such as cats and dogs.

Brian Gilligan, director general of the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, said the ferocity of the fires meant that animals had little warning before the flames were upon them. "The vegetation has a very high oil content, eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil, and it's that that is so highly combustible and vaporises so quickly and effectively explodes," he said.

Nearly 250,000 acres of national parkland has been burnt since the fires started. Mr Gilligan said the animals' natural habitat would not regenerate for about two years.