Local Rescues
One of Bat Rescue’s core activities is that of rescuing all injured megabats and microbats in South East Queensland. In the case of megabats including flying foxes, this can entail rescuing juvenile or adult bats, as well as orphan or baby bats. And the same also applies to microbats.
Orphan Care
However care and rehabilitation can stretch far beyond South East Queensland and even cross state borders.
Mass stress events affecting flying-foxes are becoming more and more frequent in recent times. These can create overwhelming numbers of particularly orphan flying-f0xes, too many for the local Bat or Wildlife Organisations to handle. In such cases, Bat Rescue has a proud history of collaboration with many other local and interstate Bat Groups to help out.
This can entail long road trips by bat Carers transporting large numbers of baby bats. In 2020 after the extensive eastern board bushfires, hundreds of baby bats were driven up from NSW to QLD in order to share out the caring responsibility.
More recently numerous orphaned flying foxes were brought to the Sunshine Coast from Rockhampton due to an unfortunate mass relocation of a breeding colony, causing many mothers to flee and leave behind their 5-8 week old, as yet un-weaned, babies.
Bat Rescue has even experienced Orphan Airlift Operations from Northern Queensland (Tolga) due to mass tick paralysis events killing thousands of Spectacled flying-foxes.
Rehabilitation
And of course, after any rescue of orphaned or injured bats, there is a period of rehabilitation prior to its release. This entails time spent in pre-creche and creche facilities where bats are slowly weaned off their human mothers and learn to become ‘batty’ bats. For many, this is the first time they may meet other bats and there is a lot to learn! Many need to develop socialisation skills as well as build up muscles and learn to fly, for the babies, for the first time. For older injured bats, to regain skills and muscle tone lost due to long rehabilitation from injuries.
Release
And finally. To be released back into the wild is the final aim for any rescued bat. The ultimate goal. YAY!
For more detailed information on these topics, go to: