Prague to send 160,000 crowns to aid fire-damaged Australia

Prague, Jan 8 (CTK) – The Prague City Hall will send 160,000 crowns to aid Australia in the fight against the recent large-scale fires, specifically to the Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund, which operates a zoo in Melbourne, according to a document to be debated by city representatives on Thursday.

The Australian fires claimed 26 lives, burned an area larger than the Czech Republic and destroyed roughly 2,000 houses.

The source of the money are the profits from the entrance fees to the Prague zoo in Troja. Three crowns are invested in protecting rare animal species around the world from each entrance ticket to the zoo. This form of financing was used for several previous aid projects.

According to Sydney University scientists, the fires have killed at least 480 million animals since September. The koala bear population was impacted severely, with the large colony of several thousand koala bears living in the North-Eastern part of Australia feared to have lost up to 30 percent of its population.

Roughly 130 fires are still raging in New South Wales, 50 of them not under control. The number of such fires in Victoria is 40.

Current estimates say the fires destroyed up to 10.3 million hectares of plant growths.