Australia has been hit with a record-breaking heatwave over the weekend, causing hundreds of bats to die.
Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands shared heart-breaking photos of hundreds of Campbelltown's flying fox colony dead on the ground from the heat, many more are still in the trees.
The organisation, plus a second animal welfare group, North Western Sydney Wires, desperately tried to save the bats, but sadly, for many of them it was too late. It is now believed that the number of dead bats could run into the thousands.
On its Facebook page, Wires wrote: "Heat stress sadly claimed the lives of many hundreds of young flying-foxes at Campbelltown yesterday afternoon and the camp at Parramatta Park was also impacted.
"The efforts of our volunteers yesterday was both heroic and heart-breaking . In extremely trying conditions they worked tirelessly to provide sub-cutaneous fluids to the pups that could be reached and many lives were saved but sadly many were lost too.
"Hundreds of mainly young flying-foxes were lost to the heat yesterday and the final count could run to thousands. Without the commitment of such a dedicated team of WIRES volunteers there is no doubt the death toll would have been much higher."
They went on to thank all the volunteers who helped, adding that it was a 'very tough and very sad day'.
Temperatures in the area peaked at 45C on Sunday.
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Help Save The Wildlife And Bushlands In Campbelttown, posted: "So many little lives lost due to the extreme heat and not enough canopy cover to shade them or keep them cool. Adults sought out shade and more shelter further up the creek resulting in many babies being left behind to deal with the heat. Many pups were on their last lot of breaths before getting much needed help by the WIRES members.
"As the dead bodies were recovered and placed in a pile for a head count the numbers had reached 200 not including the many hundreds that were still left in trees being unreachable, sadly a few adults were also included in the body count."
A road began to melt in Australia at the weekend. Credit: Viral Hog
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This comes after Australian authorities were forced to warn residents in Sydney and New South Wales about the extreme heat. A 10km stretch of the Hume Highway melted over the weekend as temperatures continued to rise.
Elsewhere, a blaze on the outskirts of Melbourne destroyed buildings and took 300 firefighters to get under control. There were reports of 49 more bushfires across the state, with around 400 houses losing power as a result.
Featured Image Credit: Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands/FacebookTopics: World News, Sydney, Animals, Australia