Fears hidden collection of prehistoric pine trees so rare their location is kept secret may have been wiped out by bushfires
- Wollemi pines were discovered in 1994 and date back millions of years
- Around 250 of the trees, also known as ‘Jurassic trees’, live in a secret location
- Devastating bushfires at Gospers Mountain tore through the national park
- The flames ripped through the fire retardant laid down to protect the trees
A secret collection of one of the world’s oldest and rarest trees has likely been wiped out by an out-of-control ‘megafire’.
There are fears roughly 250 Wollemi pine trees, also known as ‘Jurassic trees’, may have burned to the ground after a blaze ripped through Wollemi National Park.
The trees, which date back millions of years to the prehistoric period, live within a four kilometre square radius in the 501,000 hectare park northwest of Sydney.
But NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service confirmed on Saturday the Gospers Mountain fire tore through the park earlier this week, reported The Daily Telegraph.
There are fears roughly 250 rare Wollemi pine trees may have burned to the ground
The flames also ripped through fire retardant laid down to protect the trees.
Sprinklers were also set up to save the trees and a waterbombing helicopter was charged with the task of extinguishing spot fires.
When the blaze was 1km away, the chopper was called away to protect homes and the pines were left unprotected.
Pine plantations were destroyed in the fire, but wildlife services hope other plantations were spared.
Heavy smoke in the area has stopped officials from assessing the situation.
Environment Minister Matt Kean said the losing the trees would be a tragedy.
‘Fires have swept through the region before, but the scale and intensity of these fires is unprecedented.’
The blaze covered 460,000 hectares from Gospers Mountain through to the Blue Mountains.
The Wollemi pine species date back millions of years and live in a secret location in Wollemi National Park in Sydney’s northwest