Wildfires tore through approximately 2.6 million hectares of the Pantanal in 2024, and an estimated 335 million hectares are thought to have burned worldwide in 2025; WOAH calls for Veterinary Services to be integrated into disaster management.
An estimated 335 million hectares burned worldwide in 2025, illustrating that increasingly severe fire seasons are affecting ecosystems, livestock, wildlife and communities on every inhabited continent. The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) warns that these events also constitute an animal health emergency, with consequences that tend to receive less attention than those suffered by people and the environment.
A recent example is the Pantanal, one of the world's largest tropical wetlands and one of the planet's greatest reservoirs of biodiversity. In 2024, wildfires tore through approximately 2.6 million hectares of this ecosystem, destroying the habitat of countless wild animals and endangering livestock production and the livelihoods of rural communities. In recent years, severe wildfires have also affected southern Europe, the Amazon basin, Oceania, parts of North America and numerous tropical regions, demonstrating that no region is safe.
The report "The State of Animal Health in the World 2026" highlights that the world faces increasingly complex animal health risks, driven by climate change, the transformation of ecosystems and growing pressure on Veterinary Services. In 2026, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is further worsening droughts and extreme weather conditions worldwide, increasing the risk and intensity of wildfires.
Wildfires can cause widespread animal suffering and mortality, disrupt livestock production, destroy habitats and biodiversity, and undermine the livelihoods of rural communities. They can also change the way wildlife, production animals and people interact long after the flames have been extinguished: displaced wildlife may move closer to agricultural areas and human settlements, livestock is often moved between regions, and degraded ecosystems can alter disease dynamics and transmission mechanisms. These cascading effects show why wildfire preparedness requires coordinated action across the animal health, public health, environment and emergency management sectors.
Veterinary Services are uniquely positioned to contribute throughout the entire disaster management cycle. Before fires occur, they support prevention —for example, by promoting grazing and land-use planning—, preparedness and emergency planning. During emergencies, they contribute to animal evacuation, emergency veterinary care, animal welfare assessments and coordination with response teams. In the recovery phase, they help restore essential animal health services, strengthen disease surveillance, monitor the health of livestock and wildlife, and support the recovery of rural livelihoods and affected ecosystems.
Protecting animal health and welfare during wildfires also strengthens food security, protects biodiversity, sustains livelihoods and builds community resilience. Integrating Veterinary Services into wildfire preparedness is not only about protecting animals, but also about strengthening the resilience of interconnected systems that include people, animals and the environment.
Despite their essential contribution, Veterinary Services remain insufficiently integrated into national disaster and emergency management systems in many countries. Strengthening their inclusion before, during and after emergencies will help ensure that animal health and welfare are systematically taken into account as part of disaster risk reduction and emergency response.
In different regions of the world, WOAH Members are already demonstrating the value of integrating veterinary expertise into emergency management. In Australia, veterinarians are integrated into animal-related emergency management through preparedness, response and recovery planning, working alongside the competent authorities to protect animal welfare, livestock and community resilience during wildfires and other natural disasters. In Brazil, veterinary professionals have played a key role in the rescue, emergency care and rehabilitation of wildlife during the Pantanal fires, demonstrating the contribution of veterinary expertise to disaster response in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.
WOAH's existing international framework provides a solid foundation for this work through its Guidelines on disaster management and risk reduction in relation to animal health and welfare and veterinary public health, its relevant international standards on animal health and welfare, and its commitment to advancing the One Health approach. WOAH also supports its Members through training and capacity-building activities in emergency management using an all-hazards approach, thereby helping to strengthen preparedness for a wide range of emergencies, including climate-related disasters.
As wildfire risk continues to rise, protecting animals can no longer remain a secondary consideration. Integrating Veterinary Services into national disaster management systems helps ensure that emergency responses protect not only people, but also the animals, livelihoods and ecosystems that sustain resilient societies. Through its international standards, technical expertise and global network of Members, WOAH remains committed to supporting countries in strengthening resilient Veterinary Services that are prepared to respond to the challenges of a constantly changing world.
