SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — When it comes to wildfires, the focus is often on the human toll. News stories are filled with information about destroyed property or injuries and fatalities, and less attention is given to how wildfires affect wildlife.

“Does this mean all the animals are going to be gone or dead?” asked Dax Mangus, big game coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Mangus said many people do assume that wildfires can have devastating impacts on wildlife.

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“It depends a little bit,” Mangus said. “There are circumstances, like a moderate fire at a higher elevation could be a really good thing for wildlife. A really intense fire or a fire at a lower elevation can be bad for wildlife.”

Mangus said that while wild animals can be hurt or killed by wildfire, their survival instincts usually lead them to safety.

“For the most part, most animals will move away from the fire,” he said. “It happens occasionally, but it’s rare that the animals actually get burned up in a fire.”

Animal deaths and injuries aren’t the only thing to consider.

“When a wildfire comes through, it changes the habitat,” said Daniel Eddington, habitat conservation coordinator for the Utah DWR.

Part of Eddington’s job is to help wildlife habitats recover after a wildfire.

“That’s still going to take some time,” he said. “But we try to do as much as we can to move that process forward in the most productive way.”

In rare cases where animals are injured and still able to be saved, wildlife rehabilitation centers may enter the picture.

“It’s just something that my heart and soul tells me that I need to do,” said Debbie Pappas, in a May interview with 2News.

Pappas was the founder and owner of Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation in Carbonville, Utah. She unexpectedly died in early June, but told 2News how there’s always a chance wildlife rehabilitation centers may be asked to care for wildlife hurt by wildfire.

“We may have injuries to contend with,” Pappas said. “Singing, actual burning, who knows? Then the chemicals that are being dropped by the planes as well.”

But Pappas and those associated with other rehabilitation centers around the state said it’s just not very common to take care of an animal hurt in a fire.

Most animals will get away from a fire. But the sad fact is that if they can’t get away, death is much more likely than injury.

“Unfortunately, most of the time if we do come across an animal that’s been in a fire, they’re deceased,” Mangus said.

There are also big variations in how animals of different sizes respond. Larger ones like deer or elk can get away quickly. Smaller ones like rodents, or nesting birds that can’t fly, cannot. In the end, state wildlife officials say it’s all part of a natural process.

“A lot of those higher elevation fires that come through our Aspen or Conifer communities can be very beneficial to a lot of wildlife species."

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