FAWNA NSW president Meredith Ryan says people who think a reduction in the grey headed flying fox population is a good thing are ‘ignorant’.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Port News published an article on February 14 which outlined an increased number of dead flying foxes were being found due to extreme heat.
On the Port Macquarie News Facebook page people expressed their views about the flying fox population in the area.
Chris Harris said people in support of the bats have obviously never seen the damage they cause.
“I've seen entire areas of trees totally destroyed by flying pests,” he said.
“When in plague proportions they need to be culled.”
Rachael Smethurst said the flying foxes are arguably Australia's most ecologically important mammal.
“A terribly misunderstood keystone species,” she said.
Robert Sanders said they're a pest and dangerous.
Ms Ryan said koalas have the slogan ‘no tree no me’ and flying foxes should have the slogan ‘no me no tree’.
“They are very important for pollination and seed dispersal for all of our eucalypt species,” she said.
FAWNA has picked up hundreds of dead flying foxes over the last week who have died due to extreme heat.
She said some colonies have been left with only a few bats left.
Two grey-headed flying foxes were transferred by FAWNA to a creche on February 15.
In four weeks they will be transferred to a large flight aviary which is adjacent to a flying fox colony. They will be released from there.
The female called Friday was rescued from Brombin on November 18, 2016.
There was a starvation event in the flying fox camp in Brombin and as a result Friday’s mother could not get nectar from the blossom.
Ms Ryan said there were 23 grey-headed flying foxes who died in the camp and only two survived.
The other grey-headed flying fox named Prince was caught on power lines and he couldn’t fly back to the camp.
He has been in the care of FAWNA since New Years Eve.