How Colorado’s Wildfires have Affected Wildlife

You may know about or have been personally affected by Colorado’s recent wildfires. In what is the largest recorded wildfire in the state’s history, and more than 430,000 acres of land have been burned to the ground in all of the fires put together. Countless people have been evacuated and some have even lost their homes. As you can see this is a tragic time for everyone, however, something that is often overlooked is how these fires affect the wildlife.

CPW’s representative of the northwest region, Randy Hampton says, “Wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem.” In fact, evidence shows that wildlife adapt and can even benefit from the wildfires. For example, a food source of the black bear is a berry bush; after the bush burns, a younger bush grows back and produces more berries. The nitrogen released from the fires actually helps plants. Nitrogen is a component of amino acids, the building blocks of protein which is used for plant and animal growth and development. They are also a large part of chlorophyll, a set of related green pigments that play a key role in photosynthesis, and without nitrogen a plant will die. Yes, it is not great to have all of the trees and the greenery around them burning, however, it will all come back younger and fuller. Though a downside to people is animals escaping the fires and crossing over into our living environment. You may have seen or heard of something similar to this such as a black bear in your trash cans. The best way we can handle that so as to not get hurt or to not hurt the animal is to stay calm, know how to deal with the animal (if you see a blackbear you try to make yourself look big and make loud noises), and contact professionals. Making sure you have a plan in that situation is useful as well so you don’t make any rash decisions.

Wildlife are smart and they are able to navigate around fires and find shelter and food resources until it is safe to return. However, not all animals are so lucky. Forest animals such as bears, squirrels, and deer can all run away but aquatic animals are stuck in the fires. The fire will not burn these types of animals because they live in the water, however, the ash from fires can have a negative effect on their health. While ash is a great fertilizer for the forest land, it pollutes aquatic ecosystems and is often ingested which causes unhealthy changes to the aquatic animals’ body systems. To combat this, wildlife experts check aquatic habitats when fires occur and work to relocate species in need of help.

Nonetheless, Randy Hampton makes it clear that the animals are capable of handling their situations and that if they are in distress experts will take care of it; untrained citizens should not intervene in wildlife safety in wildfire zones. However, just because you can’t do much to help the animals doesn't mean you can’t do anything to help the fires. There are many little ways that you can make a big difference, every little bit counts. A few examples include volunteering to help those who have lost their homes, donate food, and making sure you don’t add to the fire with barbeques or cigarettes.

Works Cited

Lizarraga, Lori. “How Will Colorado Wildlife Fare during All of the Wildfires?”

KUSA.com, 17 Aug. 2020, www.9news.com/article/news/local/wildfire/how-will-

colorado-wildlife-fare-during-all-of-the-wildfires/73-998e8ecb-2c68-467c-8340-

6b4eab277380.

Brennan, Charlie, and Rick Rojas. “Colorado Wildfire Grows Into Largest in State

History.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Oct. 2020,

www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/us/colorado-wildfires-cameron-peak.html.