Australia’s Wallabies, Recovering From Fires, Fed by Carrots Falling From the Sky

It’s devastating—but this photo will warm your heart.

A wallaby eating a carrotNew South Wales Environment Minister Environment Minister Matt Kean

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Thousands of pounds of carrots and sweet potatoes are falling from the sky in Australia, air-dropped to help feed the Brush-tailed Rock wallabies whose habitats have been devastated by massive brushfires.

The wallabies, agile marsupials that use their furred tails for balance while climbing trees and vertical rocks, tend to survive fires. But their vegetation is often destroyed, according to the New South Wales government, which on Sunday announced it was coordinating helicopter drops in the state as part of recovery efforts. New South Wales Environment Minister Matt Kean shared photos of the hungry marsupials on Twitter:

Brushfires happen every year in Australia but are particularly horrible this year, following record-breaking temperatures and months of severe drought that experts believe are exacerbated by climate change. The blazes have ripped through brushland, wooded areas, and national parks, and have destroyed entire towns. New South Wales has been the hardest hit state, with more than 1,500 homes burned down.

In Operation Rock Wallaby, more than 4,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and carrots are being delivered to colonies in several valleys and national parks. Here’s hoping it helps the little marsupials recover.

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And it's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now.

But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

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