A social media post that has quickly gone viral claims wombats have been sharing their burrows with other animals during the Australian wildfires.

The wildfires currently tearing through the Australian countryside are nothing short of heartbreaking. Once lush areas of the vast country have literally been reduced to ashes. Even worse, a lot of the wildlife that calls those areas home have perished. It's estimated that hundreds of millions of animals have died so far since the fires started burning.

The efforts of those trying to stop the fires and save the wildlife have certainly reduced the number of animals to have been caught up in the tragedy. Between professionals and volunteers, it's all hands on deck. Sadly, no matter how many people try to help, they can't save every animal trying to flee the fire.

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According to a tweet that has since taken the internet by storm, some of the animals whose homes are protected from the fires have been helping out other creatures in trouble. The post, which has been liked more than 275,000 thousand times, claims that wombats have been allowing other creatures to seek shelter in their complex underground homes. It also claims there have been reports of wombats actively shepherding animals into their warrens.

So is this really happening, or is it just a tweet that has caught the attention of the right people? Well, according to experts who have spoken to IFLScience, the shepherding aspect of the story is incredibly unlikely. Wombats have poor eyesight so the chances of them seeking out other animals and helping them into their homes is unlikely. It's also not very probable that they are willingly sharing their homes with other animals, but that part is not impossible.

Apparently, wombat warrens are so large and complex that other animals could be seeking shelter in them without ever running into one of the wombats that live there. There are also examples of wombats allowing other animals into their homes when they are in danger. So all in all, if there are other animals hiding out in wombat warrens during the wildfires, chances are the wombats either don't know about it or if they do, they're not happy about it.

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