Australian officials have declared that the worst of the 16-day bushfire crisis is over.
New South Wales fire chief Mr Phil Koperberg said today the peak of the emergency is over. The fires have burned 170 homes and razed more than 1.2 million acres of forest and farmland.
Wildlife officials estimate thousands of native animals, including koalas, have been killed or injured in the fires.
However, some bushland has begun to regenerate, just days after being burned.
Officials said green shoots were sprouting from blackened trees and bushes in the 40,000 acre Royal National Park, on Sydney's southern outskirts.
It is the world's second-oldest national park after Yellowstone in the US.
Australia's forests are dominated by eucalyptus and other oil-based trees and plants that burn easily, but grow back quickly after fires.
More than half the 100 blazes that have burned since December 24th were deliberately lit.
Police say they have arrested 28 people, one as young as nine and one a 16-year-old girl, on charges of starting blazes.
The fires have burned an area twice the size of Greater London, but there have been no deaths. Damage and fire-fighting costs are put at around $140 million Australian dollars.
AP