WHERE ARE OUR COLONIES?
Flying-foxes colonies or ‘camps’ are homes for bats that they use regularly each year in South East Queensland. These are often based on food and water security for the colony. This is especially important in the breeding season (generally between September and December for Black and Grey-headed Flying-foxes).
However with climate change, increasing drought and temperatures, and bush fires destroying previous habitats, their movements are also changing.
So bat colonies are becoming more mobile. And they may shift from a site they have used for years to a completely different area.
It is thus very important that we are aware of where our Flying-fox colonies are on the Sunshine Coast.
WHY MONITOR COLONIES
Monitoring helps assess the status of the colony and also any possible increase in human-domestic pet-bat interaction risk.
High temperatures can result in mass heat stress events that can wipe out huge numbers or whole colonies of Flying-foxes in just one day.
Bat Rescue volunteers and the Sunshine Coast Council are constantly monitoring our coastal bats and their movements. But you too can help in this regard.
HOW TO MONITOR COLONIES
If you perhaps notice bats in a site you have never seen before, please contact Bat Rescue Inc. with that very useful information.
Alternatively download the mobile app CAUL (CleanAir And Urban Landscapes) – and select ‘Flying-foxes’. This app assists a Government-funded consortium of Australian researchers record behaviours and habits of wildlife. It will help us understand how their populations can better co-exist with humans.
This phone app allows you to observe, review and upload photographs. It gives you assistance with Flying-fox identification, and has a tutorial to help.
“Help Us Help Them, To Help You!”