RSPCA's Emergency Response Plan - Kangaroo Island Bushfires

Thank you to all of the people who supported our efforts on Kangaroo Island.

Our emergency feeding program was decommissioned in July 2020 after gradually scaling back our response.

Funded by RSPCA South Australia’s Bushfire Appeal, the wildlife feeding program aimed to prevent animals starving due to loss of habitat. The fires burned about 200,000 hectares of land, almost half the island, including prime wilderness areas such as Flinders Chase National Park. Two people, more than 43,000 farm animals and countless native animals and birds perished in the fires, the worst in the island’s recorded history.

During the five-month program, RSPCA volunteers and staff distributed more than 66 tonnes of feed to sites across the island. Motion-activated cameras captured images of hundreds of native animals and birds at the feed and water stations, which numbered 89 at their peak.