Fire doesn’t always mean run—some creatures are wired to walk straight into the heat and come out better for it.
When you think of wildfire, you picture panic. Running. Hiding. A scramble for safety. And yet, not every animal sees fire as a threat. A few outliers have figured out how to use it—literally—to feed, outcompete, and even dominate their ecosystem. These aren’t the animals you’d expect, and the ways they turn destruction into an opportunity are strange enough to feel like fiction. But they’re real. And once you understand what they’re doing, fire starts to look like less of a disaster and more like a secret weapon.
1. Australian firehawks don’t wait for fire—they spread it themselves.
In parts of northern Australia, certain birds of prey—known as firehawks—have been observed picking up burning sticks and dropping them elsewhere to ignite new fires, according to The Wildlife Society. These raptors, which include black kites and brown falcons, use the chaos to flush out prey like rodents and insects that flee the flames.
This isn’t a one-off event. Indigenous communities have known about the behavior for generations, and scientists have now documented it as deliberate and strategic. The birds don’t just benefit from fire—they actively manage it. It turns hunting into a collaborative event. Multiple firehawks may follow a fire front, waiting for the moment to strike. They’re opportunistic and sharp, and by moving fire themselves, they’re doing something once thought exclusive to humans.
2. The black fire beetle’s sensors are built to detect distant heat.
Melanophila beetles don’t flee from wildfire—they head straight toward it. Their bodies are equipped with infrared sensors so sensitive they can detect the heat of a fire from more than 50 miles away. But they’re not thrill-seekers. They’re looking for the perfect place to raise their young, as reported by the Nordic Biomimicry.
Burned trees are ideal for laying eggs because they’re freshly dead and less likely to be occupied by other insects. The fire kills off competition and weakens defenses in the wood, making it easier for the larvae to feed once they hatch. These beetles don’t just survive fire—they depend on it. Without flames clearing the way, their entire reproductive strategy would fall apart.
3. Some wood-boring wasps will only lay eggs in fire-killed trees.
Certain wasps in the genus Aprostocetus time their life cycles around wildfire events, as stated by Britannica. They show up shortly after a burn, looking for trees that have been freshly scorched but not yet decayed. It’s a narrow window, and they’re very picky.
Why the rush? Fire weakens tree defenses just enough to make it easy for the wasps to inject their eggs. It also chases away predators that might otherwise eat the larvae. These wasps are so specialized that they’re almost invisible in the ecosystem until after a fire. They don’t hang around waiting for disaster. They’re built for the aftermath—and they make quick use of the quiet that follows.
4. Red-cockaded woodpeckers need fire to keep their homes safe.
These endangered woodpeckers live in pine forests across the southeastern United States, and they’re very particular about their habitat, according to All About Birds. They carve out nest cavities in old living pines, but they require an open forest floor with little underbrush to avoid predators.
That’s where fire comes in. Natural or controlled burns keep the forest from getting choked with dense vegetation. Without that, their preferred trees get crowded out, predators thrive in the thickets, and the birds lose both safety and space. When fire is allowed to sweep through regularly, these birds thrive. But suppress it for too long, and their numbers plummet. Fire doesn’t destroy their homes—it preserves the blueprint.
5. Prairie pocket gophers bounce back faster than their predators.
In grassland ecosystems, fire resets everything. But not all animals restart at the same speed. Prairie pocket gophers have an edge because they spend most of their lives underground, as reported by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. When flames pass over the surface, they simply hunker down and wait it out.
The real advantage comes after the fire. Grasses regrow quickly, giving them fresh food right outside their tunnels. Meanwhile, predators like foxes and raptors lose their cover. The gophers get a burst of easy foraging without the same level of threat. They don’t control fire, and they don’t seek it out. But they recover better than most, and that gives them a quiet head start every time the land burns.
6. Bark beetles flood in after fire has done their dirty work.
You wouldn’t think of beetles as a post-disaster force, but bark beetles are some of the first insects to colonize a burned forest. They bore into fire-damaged trees that are still standing but dying—wood that’s soft enough to carve through but solid enough to shelter eggs.
In some ecosystems, their arrival is so consistent it helps researchers measure the intensity and recovery of a burn. The beetles don’t mind charred bark. In fact, they use it as cover. And they waste no time getting started. What looks like ruin to us is basically a soft landing for a species that thrives on stressed trees.
7. Northern short-tailed shrews hunt better in burned fields.
These tiny mammals are notoriously hard to spot, but they’re fierce insectivores. After a fire clears an area, the short-tailed shrew becomes more effective—not less. With grasses burned down and visibility wide open, their sensory advantage becomes even more pronounced.
Shrews hunt using a mix of echolocation and smell. In a fresh burn zone, they can pick up movement and scent trails with almost no interference. Their prey, meanwhile, is still trying to rebuild shelter and cover. This temporary imbalance means the shrew isn’t just surviving—it’s feeding better than before. Fire levels the field, but the shrew’s toolkit was already built for the chaos that comes next.
8. Spotted hyenas follow fire to scavenge before the competition shows up.
In savanna regions, wildfires often flush out herds of grazing animals. Some flee, some get injured, and a few don’t make it. That’s when spotted hyenas show up. These predators don’t cause fires, but they watch for the smoke and listen for fleeing prey. Once they know where to go, they move in fast.
It’s not just about hunting. Hyenas are top-tier scavengers, and fire offers them early access to carcasses before other scavengers arrive. Their strong jaws let them clean up whatever’s left, including bones. For them, fire is like an alarm bell—something that says dinner is being served, and the competition is a few steps behind.
9.African elephants use burned land to get easier access to minerals.
After fire clears brush and exposes the soil, elephants have been observed digging into the ground for minerals and salt deposits that were previously out of reach. These minerals are critical to their health, especially for nursing mothers and growing calves.
It’s not a daily behavior, but it’s one that shows how elephants adjust their foraging habits to match the land. Fire changes what’s visible and what’s reachable. And elephants, with their strong trunks and memories, know when to take advantage of that. They’re not just survivors. They’re opportunists with decades of wildfire wisdom behind every move.
10. Some kangaroo species hit a breeding boom after fire.
In Australia, certain kangaroo populations respond to fire not with fear—but fertility. After a burn, the vegetation regrows with high-nutrient shoots that are perfect for grazing. The sudden influx of food gives female kangaroos the ideal conditions to support pregnancy.
These marsupials also have delayed implantation, meaning they can pause a pregnancy until the environment feels right. And post-fire ecosystems give them the green light. They don’t just return—they rebound. It’s not about fire safety. It’s about timing. And for kangaroos, nothing says “it’s time to grow the family” like a landscape coming back to life.
11. The black-backed woodpecker follows fire like it’s on a migration route.
This woodpecker species specializes in post-burn forests. It travels across vast distances to reach recently scorched areas, zeroing in on trees that have been freshly damaged by fire. There, it feasts on the larvae of insects that quickly invade burned bark.
These birds don’t just tolerate fire—they rely on it. They’re rarely found in unburned areas and only thrive where fire has left its mark. Their beaks are even adapted to strip bark with more efficiency, revealing hidden insect caches below. Where others see destruction, the black-backed woodpecker sees an open buffet. And it always knows exactly where to find it.