An extreme heatwave in Australia has led to the deaths of more than 90 wild horses in the outback, authorities say.<\/p>\n
Rangers found dead and dying animals in a dried-up waterhole near Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory, last week.<\/p>\n
About 40 of the animals had already died from dehydration and starvation. Surviving horses were later culled.<\/p>\n
Australia has experienced a fortnight of extreme heat\u00a0that has broken dozens of records across the nation.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the city of Adelaide experienced its hottest ever temperature – 46.2C (115F) – eclipsing a record set in 1939.<\/p>\n
Rangers came across the horses after their absence was noted by a remote community, said local authority Central Land Council (CLC).<\/p>\n
A local resident, Ralph Turner, also visited the site and posted photos online, describing the scene as “carnage<\/p>\n
“I was devastated. I’d never seen anything like it – all the bodies,” he told the BBC.<\/p>\n
“I couldn’t believe something like that had happened.”<\/p>\n
Another local, Rohan Smyth, told the ABC that water was “normally there” and that the horses “just had nowhere to go”.<\/p>\n
The council said it had organised a cull of the remaining horses because they were found close to death.<\/p>\n
They also planned to cull another 120 feral horses, donkeys and camels “dying from thirst” in a neighbouring community, said CLC director David Ross.<\/p>\n
Temperatures in Alice Springs have exceeded 42C for almost two weeks – more than 6C above January’s typical average, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology<\/p>\n
The extreme weather follows a record-breaking heatwave\u00a0that produced five of Australia’s 10 warmest days on record.<\/p>\n
Authorities issued health warnings urging people to stay indoors and minimise physical activity, with heightened concerns for the elderly, the chronically ill and children.<\/p>\n
Several other wildlife species have also suffered, including reports of mass deaths of native bats in New South Wales.<\/p>\n
Up to a million fish have also been found dead along river banks in the drought-affected state.<\/p>\n
“With climate change well and truly upon us, we expect these emergencies to occur with increasing frequency,” Mr Ross said.<\/p>\n
“Nobody is truly prepared and resourced to respond to them.”<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, officials confirmed that 2018 and 2017 had been Australia’s third and fourth hottest years on record respectively.<\/p>\n
The bureau’s\u00a0State of the Climate 2018 report\u00a0said climate change had led to an increase in extreme heat events.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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