ABC cameraman Matt Roberts shared harrowing vision of the drive into Batlow on his Twitter. Photo / @ABCcameramatt, Twitter
Video of the drive into the fire-ravaged town of Batlow shows the road littered with dozens of scorched wild animals and livestock.
Warning: Graphic content
It's the vision that painfully illustrates the level of destruction of wildlife populations in fire-ravaged areas of Australia.
ABC cameraman Matt Roberts shared a short but harrowing clip of the drive into Batlow in southwest New South Wales this morning, showing the roadside littered with dead animals.
Dozens of charred kangaroos and livestock lay on either side of the lone stretch, having failed to flee the raging bushfire that tore through the area yesterday.
Extremely high temperatures and ferocious winds fanned flames in Batlow, on the edge of the Great Dividing Range in the Snowy Mountains, turning the blaze into a merciless monster.
A man died while trying to help a mate defend his home, suffering a heart attack in his ute at about 6.30pm on Saturday. Despite the efforts of nearby police, the 47-year-old couldn't be revived.
"Very sadly one person lost their life due to a cardiac arrest just outside of Batlow last night," Premier Gladys Berejiklian said today.
"Of course, our hearts, thoughts and minds go to their families during this very difficult time."
"Never seen anything like it," he said.
As well as kangaroos, the vision shows dead sheep and cows that managed to escape paddocks but perished by the roadside when the fires swept through.
Animal experts say there has already been a significant loss of life and animal habitat across southern Queensland, NSW and Victoria this bushfire season.
Close to half a billion animals in Australia's New South Wales state alone may have been killed in wildfires since September, Prof Chris Dickman, an expert on Australian biodiversity at the University of Sydney, predicted.
Koala hospitals are working around the clock to care for burnt marsupials and some locals are even orchestrating solo missions to do their bit.
Patrick Boyle yesterday revealed he's been venturing into scorched bushland in the East Gippsland region to find stranded koalas.
And in late December, a volunteer firefighter named Adam rescued several koalas in between trying to save homes in the Cudlee Creek fires in South Australia.
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