There's an enormous number of people world-wide who have contributed to the help given to those affected by the bushfires in Australia.

Canadian volunteer firefighters went to Australia to fight fire:

I saw this amazing video of fightfighters from the US arrive in Australia and wanted to share it with you.

And these amazing dogs are helping to find koalas:

Here's to those fighting fire everywhere.   Please stay safe;  thank you for all you do. Thinking of your families who have an anxious wait for your safe return as well.   And a big thank you too to all those dogs helping to find koalas.

You're all utterly inspiring. 

The African Wildlife Foundation needs us to help chimps.

There are as few as 172,000 chimps left in the wild.  Their populations continue to decline to such an extent that they could be gone in all our lifetimes.

We need to turn their situation around.

Chimps are facing real threats.

• Wildlife traffickers want them for bushmeat. 
• There’s an illegal global trade in skulls and other body parts
• Traffickers want the baby chimps for the exotic pet trade.  Sometimes a protective chimp family is killed in the process.
• And their habitats are decreasing rapidly

The African Wildlife Foundation is asking us to become Advocates for Chimps and to pledge to save them.   Find out how the Foundation is helping chimpanzees here

© African Wildlife Foundation

Jenny and Jimmy Desmond run a home for rescued baby chimps in West Africa, Liberia to be more exact.

They are the founders of Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection (LCRP) in West Africa and its affiliate 501c3 in the United States, Partners in Animal Protection and Conservation (PAPC).

And they work with their team to improve the lives of chimpanzees in the wild and those who have come to them as orphans, in Liberia.

They started out with a couple of baby, orphaned chimps who had been brought to them as orphans.  They now have 21 chimps. 

The Desmond’s dream was to move all the chimps to a new sanctuary in the forest.  And they have a site for which they have bought a 25 year lease - their Hundred Acre Wood!

But before the chimps move, they need to learn all the skills they need to survive.

Enter chimp expert Professor Ben Gerrod is looking to teach the chimps the skills they need (that their mothers would have taught them, had they not been killed for bushmeat) to survive in the wild.

Recognising danger is a key skill – danger such as deadly snakes – and they also need to know how to make an alarm call to tell other chimps that there’s danger about.  They need to be able to climb.

Chimpanzees are critically endangered – they are kept as pets in Liberia which is officially illegal but most people aren’t aware of the law.   The sanctuary rescues chimpanzees that are being kept as pets.

One of the amazing things to see is the way the dogs such as Princess (who have been rescued as well) and chimps get on together. 

More information

This is a three part series on BBC2, starting on 9 January 2020 at 8pm.  Find out more about the porgramme here

Visit Liberia Chimpanzee Rescu's website

Support the Rescue by Adopting a Chimp or simply Making a Donation.  

These chimps need help and Jenny and Jimmy are the only ones who are providing it. They need funds to cater for the ever growing number of chimpanzees arriving with them.  They need more staff to look after the chimps. 

You can make a donation here

So very quickly, some organisations which need urgent help to help rescue wildlife - 

The Rescue Collective in Australia have a very urgent wishlist - they are in very short supply of stuff - you can find them on Facebook here.  They work together with like minded people, to support animal rescue, wildlife organizations and their volunteers across the East Coast of Australia. 

The Rescue Collective have a BushFire Appeal which you can donate to and it gives you an idea of what they have been facing as you read down the page.

Animals Australia have an appeal which will help "expert wildlife vets to travel to fire-devastated Mallacoota to assist local carers dealing with injured koalas; and to travel to other fire grounds where needed."

Wildlife Victoria have an appeal which "will be distributed to wildlife shelters and carers to help rebuild enclosures and equipment that they have lost in the fires so that they can continue their lifesaving work, and support those that are struggling to cope with the enormous number of animals that will need care in the coming weeks and months."  Just click on their DONATE button, the blue one

WIRES need funds too - they say in December alone the WIRES received over 20,000 calls and volunteers attended over 3,300 rescues

Koala Rescue Queensland have an appeal too which you can find here.  They say the destruction is massive and the clean up and rehabilitation will take years. Their climbing ropes, throw lines, harnesses, haloes and poles, were destroyed. Please donate if you can - even $5 helps us rescue and get medical help for sick and injured Koalas.

And the Fundraiser for the Port Macquaire Koala Hospital is continuing to grow - up to $2,868,000 plus as I type. 

We need all of us to keep donating, spreading the word, and praying for rain in Australia.  And to look at our own lifesltyles and how we are affecting the health and wellbeing of the planet and all its inhabitants.

Please forgive me coyping straight from these websites - I just want to get the news out there.

It's heartbreaking.   These people and animals must be absolutely exhausted and terrified. 

Praying for you, Australia xxx

International charity Four Paws have put a video together to show their achievements in 2019!

Do take a look - it's an excellent example of how people can change animals' lives for the better.

Take action and make a difference