Distressed, hot and hungry bats should be reported to expert wildlife carers and definitely not handled, as food shortages and increasing heat put pressure on colonies around Sydney.
Thousands of grey-headed flying foxes are suffering from starvation after a dry winter affected their primary food source, native tree blossoms and nectar. The looming summer threatens to worsen the impact.
Greater Sydney Parklands – a government agency which manages some of the city’s largest and well-known parks, including Centennial Parklands in Sydney’s east, along with Parramatta Park and Western Sydney Parklands – issued its warning on Monday.
“We want to remind park goers that if they see a distressed bat they should never handle it because they can scratch and bite,” the agency’s environmental and sustainability officer Amara Glynn said.
Sightings of distressed or injured bats should instead be referred to the Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) or Sydney Wildlife Rescue.
“Carers who are trained and prepared can come and tend to these bats,” Glynn said.
More than 40,000 bats have been spotted around Lachlan Swamp in Centennial Parklands, making it home to one of the largest colonies of grey-headed flying foxes in the city according to Greater Sydney Parklands. Parramatta Park is thought to be home to between 5000 and 10,000 of the bats.
In the south-west Sydney suburb of Harrington Park, about 50,000 bats colonised an area along Narellan Creek in June , according to the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, frustrating residents.
Research earlier this year estimated grey-headed flying foxes could contribute close to $1 billion to the nation’s timber industry, planting about 91 million trees each year by dispersing seeds and pollinating flowers.
The vulnerable species, which live predominantly along the coast east of the Great Dividing Range, are the largest bats in Australia.
They typically feed on blossoms and nectar from native trees, but a drier than usual winter and poor seasonal flowering of eucalypts and other native flora are believed to be leaving bats hungry.
WIRES warned earlier in October the starvation event was driving increased reports of unusual behaviour and malnourishment in flying foxes.
“They’re eating off the ground, drinking water from the grass after the rain, and hanging too low in trees,” WIRES said.
Rescues and deaths have increased and bats have been seen roosting in fruit trees instead of returning to their colonies, Greater Sydney Parklands said.
Summer could force the closure of some parts of the Greater Sydney Parklands estate as the heat increases.
“During periods of extreme heat, particularly when temperatures exceed 42 degrees, grey-headed flying fox colonies are at significant risk of heat stress death, so we will be closing our colony sites to the public when this happens,” Glynn said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
