The helicopter known as the Squirrel is typically used to douse fires and shoot pests. But these days it has a new mission: scattering tons of carrots and sweet potatoes in New South Wales, Australia, for threatened wallabies on the brink of starvation.

A long-running drought had already drastically reduced the marsupials’ food supply. Then came the bush fires that devastated southeastern Australia in recent months.

“There was absolutely nothing left,” said Michaela Jones, a senior project officer at the National Parks and Wildlife Service in New South Wales.