They say that some people just want to see the world burn. But does anyone really want to see a billion-plus animals set ablaze like a thatched-roof hut in a pillaged village? Does anyone really want to hear that a billion marsupials and other critters have been incinerated? We think not, nevertheless, that day is upon us, because according to the University of Sydney, those Australian wildfires have now claimed the lives of a billion or more native animals.

Even worse, those fires, which cover much of the country, have destroyed the habitats of 100 endangered species, per Science News.

The estimate was “extrapolated based on previous calculations of the number of Australian animals lost over a given area due to land-clearing practices.” However, the true number is likely much higher, because the estimate didn’t factor in “bats, frogs or invertebrates.” Considering that invertebrates account for “95 percent of animal species and the vast majority of animal biomass,” the sheer scale of death and destruction these fires have caused is hard to wrap your head around.

The Land Down Under is under fire

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