PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 The wildfires burning across Arizona have done more than scorch thousands of acres of land and destroy dozens of buildings.<\/p>\n
The fires have also put wildlife at risk, destroying habitats, while forcing thousands of birds and other creatures to find a new place to live. The extreme heat is also creating a lot of problems for wildlife.<\/p>\n
Laura Hackett is the education coordinator at Liberty Wildlife<\/a> in Phoenix, an animal rescue that\u2019s been taking in a lot of injured birds, raccoons and other wildlife during the long, hot Arizona summer.<\/p>\n \u201cBabies are falling out of nests in windstorms, or it\u2019s so hot they are jumping from nests,\u201d said Hackett. \u201cBaby bunnies are getting displaced and not able to stay with moms.\u201d<\/p>\n Nonprofit rescues often rely on the public to call in and report an injured bird or animal, especially ones that have been caught up in a wildfire.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we see after the fires is habitats destroyed, and so now these animals are displaced and don\u2019t have their normal home,\u201d said Hackett. \u201cThey end up in locations that are not normally found, so you\u2019ll find different kinds of birds maybe farther east or west and that\u2019s when we normally get calls to help them and relocate them.\u201d<\/p>\n Hacket said they are in constant contact with other Arizona rescues to determine who is best able to take in an injured bird or creature to nurture them back to health.<\/p>\n Liberty Wildlife<\/a> brings in more than 10,000 animals a year, with many of them hurt in the extreme heat of summer. They do their best to set them free in the wild again, but that\u2019s not always possible.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we make a determination, we can try to rehabilitate, try to release it,\u201d said Hackett. \u201cIf it can\u2019t survive in the wild anymore, we can transfer them to an education permit, and they can become an education ambassador or we have foster animals.\u201d<\/p>\n Liberty Wildlife relies almost entirely on donations. For more information, click\/tap here<\/a>.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n