Sydney, Dec 6 (AFP/APP): Three hundred animals have been evacuated from a wildlife park north of Sydney as massive bushfires encircled Australia’s largest city and foreign firefighters arrived to relieve beleaguered local forces. Walkabout Wildlife Park said it had shipped out lizards, dingoes, peacocks and marsupials, as firefighters battled more than 100 fires up and down the eastern seaboard. “This fire has been doing some crazy things, so we have to be prepared,” general manager Tassin Barnard told AFP. Prolonged drought has left much of eastern Australia tinder dry and spot fires have raged every day for the past three months, leaving firefighters struggling to cope. New South Wales rural fire chief Shane Fitzsimmons said Friday that some US and Canadian firefighters had arrived to help out, easing the strain on the exhausted largely volunteer Australian force. The incident-management and aviation specialists will help ease “fatigue and crew rotations” he said. “We are not only appreciative of their presence here today, but of their sacrifice,” said Fitzsimmons — who has become a fixture on Australian television screens for weeks, updating the public on blazes in towns, national parks and backwaters. “They are volunteering to sacrifice time from loved ones, from … Continue reading Wildlife park evacuated as fires ring Sydney