Flying Fox Article June2010

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    BatsOne quarter of all mammal species inthe world are bats, which belong to

    the order Chiroptera, meaning hand- winged. Bats can be divided into twosuborders:

    Megabats (Megachiroptera) , whichincludes ying-foxes, as well as thelesser known tubenosed bats andblossom bats.

    Microbats (Microchiroptera) , which are smaller insectivorous bats.

    Megabats differ greatly from microbats(see Table 1); their main similarities

    are that they are the only wingedmammals and are primarily nocturnal.

    Flying-foxesFlying-foxes, otherwise known as fruitbats, are members of the Pteropodidaefamily. They have the largest bodysize of all bats, weighing up to onekilogram, with a wing span whichmay exceed one metre. There areeight known species of ying-foxin Australia, of which only four arerelatively widespread on the Australianmainland. These are the black, thespectacled, the grey-headed and thelittle red ying-foxes. The rst threeof these have similar habits andlifestyle but are found in different

    Flying-foxes

    parts of Australia, their ranges partiallyoverlapping. The little red ying-foxis smaller and gives birth at a differenttime to the others and tends to followthe owering of the eucalypts inland,moving to the coast irregularly.

    The grey-headed ying-fox ( Pteropus poliocephalus ) is the largest member ofthe family and is a native species thatis endemic to Australia on the easternseaboard southern Queensland, NewSouth Wales and Victoria.

    The beautiful spectacled ying-fox(Pteropus conspicillatus ), which is onlyfound in tropical rainforest areas innorth-eastern Queensland, is also listedas vulnerable at the national level.

    The black ying-fox ( Pteropus alecto ) was previously listed as vulnerableunder New South Wales legislation,ranging across most of the coast ofnorthern Australia, but was recentlydelisted due to increasing numbersin NSW. However, many believethat this is likely to be due to a rangeshift southwards, rather than a range

    expansion or any actual overallpopulation increase.

    The little red ying-fox ( Pteropusscapulatus ) is both more numerousand more nomadic than the other

    three species. They roost muchcloser together in larger numbersand because of this often cause a lotof damage to vegetation where theydecide to camp. This is one reasonthat they are so nomadic if they were to stay too long in one place, the vegetation would struggle to recover,but if they keep moving regularly, the vegetation gets the chance to bounceback so that it is healthy again for thenext time they might visit.

    Flying-fox diet

    Although ying-foxes are commonly known as fruit bats, their favouritefood is actually the pollen and nectarof eucalypt blossoms, followed byother native hardwood blossoms,such as melaleuca (paperbark) andbanksia, and rainforest fruits includinglilly pillies and gs. Exotic fruits aregenerally not preferred, but often lackof preferred food sources will forceying-foxes into orchards and backyardfruit trees, where they face such dangersas shooters and loose netting.

    This lack of preferred food sources iscaused by two main factors. The rst isthe natural unreliability of owering inthe eucalypt forests. Nectar and pollenproduction varies considerably from year to year, with many species

    Grey-headed flying-fox belly dips in theParramatta River to cool and rehydrate itself

    on a scorching hot Sydney summer day.Photo: Nick Edards (www.enigmatech.com.au)

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    * Echolocation involves emitting high-frequency sounds that bounce off objects to allow the bats to find theirway around in pitch darkness.

    owering maybe only every three tove years. Because different speciesower at different times throughoutthe year, most ying-foxes have totravel great distances, often hundredsof kilometres, following large oweringevents in order to nd enough of thishigh-energy food to eat. The secondproblem is that many of the ying-

    foxes native food sources, as well asalready being naturally unreliable,have been cleared. Rainforests andeucalypt forests have largely beencleared for agricultural land, whilepaperbark swamps have more recentlybeen targeted for the popular canaldevelopments in Queensland. Thisgoes a long way to explaining whymany people mistakenly believe thatying-fox numbers are increasing.

    Many people are experiencing a higherlevel of conict with ying-foxes thanthey used to. With the increase inpopularity of native garden plants,backyard fruit growing, and nativestreet and park trees, ying-foxes arending a lot more food in urban andresidential areas. These food sourcestend to be more reliable than thosein native bushland because they areregularly watered and well cared forand, with a greater variety of speciesover a relatively small area, there is

    always something that is owering orfruiting. Just like people, ying-foxeslike to live close to a regular food and water supply; hence a lot more ying-foxes are now camping in areas wherepeople live, work and play.

    Flying-fox campsThe term camp (or colony ) is generallyused to refer to a site where ying-foxes roost, rather than to a group ofa particular number of ying-foxes,eg the ying-foxes have a permanentcamp at Ku-ring-gai in North Sydney,

    which is occupied all year round.However, there are annual campsthat the ying-foxes use at the sametime every year, and also irregularcamps that the ying-foxes may roostin occasionally if there is a nearby foodsource available at the time.

    Flying-fox numbers in a camp increaseand decrease throughout the year,depending on the availability of food.The owering of many species occursirregularly in different areas and atdifferent times of the year, governedmainly by variations in weather. Acamp may contain a few hundred totens of thousands of ying-foxes (oreven more in the case of little redying-foxes). Sometimes the campmay be empty if food is not availablenearby. Some of these camps havebeen in use for more than 100 years.

    Occasionally a smaller group mayroost in a location for a short period,but these small groups will usuallyeither attract more ying-foxes tothe site, or will move on to join otherlarger ying-fox camps. Flying-foxesare very sociable and, because they areso focused on nding food in manydifferent locations at night, they use

    Female grey-headed flying-fox stretches in the sun as her young pup takes milk from the nippleunder her wing. Photo: Nick Edards (www.enigmatech.com.au)

    Table 1. Summary of general differences between megabats and microbats

    Megabats

    No. of species

    Size

    Diet

    Navigation

    Roost location

    Winter habits

    Microbats

    170 species worldwide12 Australian species

    760 species worldwide64 Australian species

    Large: wingspans about 1metre Small: wingspans about 25centimetres

    Nectar, pollen and fruit

    Sight and Smell

    Hang from tree branches In caves, roof cavities, under bridges, in

    tree hollows, under bark, etc.

    Echolocation*

    Insects

    Travel to locations where food is moreabundant

    Hibernation until insects become moreabundant

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    camps for social contact (as well as forrest) when they are all together duringthe day.

    Flying-foxes sleep during the dayand feed on pollen, nectar andfruit at night. At dusk, ying-foxesdepart from their camps to feedon various local food resources. Asdawn approaches, some ying-foxesgradually start to return to the campfrom which they came, whereas othersmay y to another nearby camp to restfor the day. This means that campshave constant turnover of individuals there are different ying-foxes thereevery day.

    Camps tend to occur in relativelysheltered areas with tall trees, oftenin gullies and commonly near someform of water. To drink, ying-foxes

    swoop down to the water, dip theirbelly fur in, then land in a tree and lickthe water from their fur. Belly-dippingnormally occurs in still fresh water, butit has also been occasionally observedin estuarine or even salty water. Flying-foxes also lick dew from leaves.

    PollinationMost people do not realise just howessential ying-foxes are to the healthof our native forests. Flying-foxes haveadapted to an unreliable food resourceby being nomadic. When a species oftree owers well in a particular partof their range, tens of thousands ofying-foxes will congregate to feedon the blossom. Radio tracking ofindividual ying-foxes, combined withobservations of population uctuationsat colony sites, has conrmed that

    individuals move many hundreds ofkilometres to prolic owering.

    Flying-foxes are in fact our mosteffective seed dispersers andpollinators of our rainforests and

    native hardwood forests (includingnative timber plantations). Unlike thebirds and insects that are usually givenall of the credit for this role, ying-foxes have the advantages of a largebody size combined with a fur coatthat allows much pollen to stick to andbe transported potentially up to 100kilometres in one night. Flying-foxes

    can also carry small seeds of rainforestfruits in their gut for up to an hour, by which time they may have own 30kilometres away from where the fruit was eaten. Other pollinators, such asbirds, bees (including native stinglessbees), moths, butteries, wasps, ies,beetles, other small mammals suchas gliders, and the wind, operate overmuch smaller areas.

    By dispersing rainforest seeds over wide areas and across cleared ground,ying-foxes give seeds a chance togrow away from the parent plant, andpotentially expand remnant patchesof valuable rainforest vegetation. It isestimated that a single ying-fox canLittle red flying-fox. Photo: Lib Ruytenberg

    This female grey-headed flying-fox is tending her young pup which appears to be at most a week orso old. Photo: Nick Edards (www.enigmatech.com.au)

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    A young black flying-fox (Pteropus alecto ) roosting in a Sydney colony which is the far southern end

    of their range. Photo: Nick Edards (www.enigmatech.com.au)

    disperse up to 60,000 seeds in onenight.

    Through pollination and seeddispersal, ying-foxes help to providehabitat for other ora and faunaspecies and also help to sustain Australias hardwood timber, honeyand native plant industries. But to beeffective in this role, ying-foxes needto be in large numbers.

    ReproductionIt is sad how difficult it is to nd anarticle or news item in the media aboutying-foxes that does not use phrases

    such as bats out of hell, diseaserisk or plague proportions. Thiskind of propaganda not only fostersunnecessary hatred of these beautiful,intelligent and social animals that forman essential part of our ecosystem, butit also gives momentum to lies that arecirculated as truth.

    Plagues occur when environmentalconditions allow a localised explosionof numbers of a particular speciesthat has the ability to reproduce at a very rapid rate. For example, a single Australian plague locust can lay100200 eggs, and one breeding pair

    of mice and their offspring has thepotential to produce 500 mice in just21 weeks. It is simply not possible for aying-fox plague to occur their slowrate of reproduction does not allow it.

    Mating occurs between March andMay and often results in excess noise inthe camps as males mark a territory ina tree and defend it from other males.Females become pregnant in autumn(MarchApril) and, after a gestationperiod of about six months, give birthin spring (mainly OctoberNovember)to a single young (twins are rarelyborn, but often only one will survive).

    As soon as the pup is born it beginsto suckle from its mother. Its milkteeth curve backwards so that it cankeep a rm hold. The mother protectsher young with her wings during the

    daytime. At night when she ies tosearch for food the pup clings to itsmother, with its mouth around thenipple and its claws in her fur. The pupis not able to maintain its own bodytemperature until it is 1517 days old, soit stays close to its mother in the early weeks of its life. When the pup getsheavier and is able to thermoregulate,it is then left behind with a group ofother pups in the colony at night whilethe mother goes out to feed. When theadults start returning to camp earlythe next morning, the mothers callout to their pups, and the pups callback. The mothers each recognise the voice of their own pup and this helpsthem to nd their little pup among thebranches and give it its morning feed. At this stage the pups are still unableto y, and are dependent on theirmothers milk. Unfortunately, thesepups commonly become the unseen victims of orchardists that shoot theirmothers who are desperately tryingto nd enough food near the campthat provides adequate nutrition toallow them to produce milk for their young at the same time of year as mostorchards are producing fruit.

    For this reason, the Queenslandgovernment recently banned thekilling of ying-foxes as a method offruit crop protection, but New South Wales has not yet followed suit and isstill issuing licences to shoot ying-foxes, even those listed for protectionunder its own threatened specieslegislation. This is despite the factthat recent survey results indicatethat shooting is, at best, around 60percent effective as a crop protection

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    measure, while properly installedfull-exclusion netting is 100 percenteffective. The added advantage ofinstalling such netting is that fruitdamage by other animals, such asbirds and possums, is also preventedat the same time. Financially, nettingis a very good investment; many fruitgrowers have now recognised this andhave netted their crops, but others willneed nancial assistance in order toget started. The Wildlife PreservationSociety fully supports governmentsubsidies for orchard netting.

    If the ying-fox pups survive the fruit-growing season, they begin to practiceying within the camp at night aroundDecember, and by January are yingout with the adults to feed.

    ThreatsThere are currently estimated to beless than 450,000 grey-headed ying-foxes in Australia. The species suffereda population decline of around 30percent over the ten years between1989 and 1999, which contributed toits listing as a threatened species underboth federal and some state legislation.Scientists believe that at the current

    rate of decline, grey-headed ying-foxes may be functionally extinct (as aneffective pollinator and seed disperser) within 50 years and totally extinct within 70 years. It is believed that themain factor contributing to this declineis habitat loss (including loss of bothroosting habitat and food trees),although shooting, electrocution,entanglements and severe heat eventsare also major contributors.

    Predators known to eat ying-foxesinclude carpet pythons, goannas,sea-eagles and the powerful owl.Currawongs and ravens are knownto attack ying-foxes found on theirown in the daytime. These predatorsdo not signicantly reduce the overallying-fox population. The most likely victims are the young, sick or old.Predators contribute to the health ofa population by removing the least tindividuals.

    Flying-foxes do not cope very well inextreme temperatures. Their abilityto y long distances means they canusually avoid the extremes of summerand winter by migrating. Althoughying-foxes do have behavioural

    mechanisms for cooling themselvesdown, severe heat events (eg wheretemperatures reach over 40C formore than one day in a row) have beenknown to result in thousands of ying-foxes dying of heat stress. This can beexacerbated if circumstances (suchas scarce food or forced relocation)have forced ying-foxes to camp in asite that may have less than adequateshelter. At the other end of the scale,black ying-foxes that used to befound primarily in northern Australia,but are now shifting southwards, areused to warmer temperatures. As farsouth as Sydney, individuals have beensighted with frostbitten ears, and someseem to have died from these coolertemperatures.

    Parasites and diseases tend to affectying-foxes more greatly when thepopulation is under stress (by lackof food, camp disturbance, etc). The Australian bat lyssavirus is one diseasethat is fatal to them, though it is quiteuncommon. But when the immunesystem is low, ying-foxes are moresusceptible, so that parasites that haveadapted to living in the ying-fox

    The wet belly of this grey-headed flying-fox means that shes just belly dipped in a nearby stream to cool and rehydrate herself.Photo: Nick Edards (www.enigmatech.com.au)

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    population without causing undueillness suddenly start to make theirhosts sick. Some of these issues haveslightly more complex reasons foroccurring, such as the tick poisoningin Queensland that you can read aboutin Steve Amesburys article With wingson their ngers on page 15.

    Flying-foxes have a very short intestineand absorb their mostly liquid diet very rapidly. The average time frommouth to anus (doing a poo) is abouttwenty minutes, although somematerial takes up to an hour to digest.This is important for seed dispersalbecause the small seeds contained inthe faeces (poo) fall and germinate innew areas where they grow into newtrees and vines.

    In the past, some fruit-growers haveused electric grids to electrocuteying-foxes attempting to eat theirfruit these are now illegal. Nowelectrocution is mainly caused byoverhead powerlines, killing ying-foxes if they touch two wires at thesame time. If the animal happens to bea mother carrying a pup, the pup oftensurvives the shock only to die a slowdeath of dehydration.

    Entanglements are another problemthat is happening more and more asstarving ying-foxes searching forfood come closer to humans. In ruraland industrial areas, barbed wire iscommon, and where it is installedin close proximity to ying-fox foodtrees is where the most ying-foxes getentangled in it. The wing of a ying-fox is essentially like a large, elongatedhand with a thin, stretchy webbing that joins the ngers. If a small amount ofdamage occurs to the webbing, then itcan heal, but if large holes are torn orif severe damage occurs to the bonesor ligaments that support the wings,then it is very unlikely that the animal will ever y again which is a deathsentence for a ying-fox. Other animals,such as gliders, suffer horric injuriesfrom barbed wire. Studies show that86 percent of wildlife entanglementsoccur on the top strand of wire, so if notall of the barbed wire can be replaced with wildlife-friendly fencing (see www. wildlifefriendlyfencing.com), then even

    replacing just the top strand with plain wire would make a lot of difference.

    In residential areas, the more commonentanglement problem is backyardfruit tree netting. If white knitted

    netting is installed correctly andpulled taut over a frame, then both wildlife and fruit can be kept safe.But unfortunately, many peopleare unaware that the cheap blackmonolament netting that they buyfrom the local shop with few (if any)instructions is essentially a deathtrap for not only ying-foxes, but also

    other wildlife such as birds, possums,lizards and snakes. The trap worksby providing an attractive lure (thefruit or the insects attracted to thefruit), with a type of net that cannotbe easily seen but does easily entangleanything that tries to get to the tree,the monolament strands painfullycutting into the skin of the animal asit struggles to get out. These animalsoften die of dehydration, or if they arerescued in time, may still die from thesevere wounds that can result fromtheir struggles. And of course during

    summer there is always the possibilitythat these are mothers with youngpups waiting for them back at thecamp.

    With the increasing tendency forying-foxes to nd reliable food and water near people, there is increasingpressure from humans who sadly

    do not want to share their lives withying-foxes. Camps can be noisy(particularly when the bats are matingor disturbed) and do have a distinctivesmell that is not to everyones taste.For this reason, many people objectto camps being set up near theirhomes. Other people dont like ying-foxes because of the mess they make when feeding, or simply because theyhave been taught through folklore,media propaganda and rumoursthat ying-foxes are scary, diseased,ugly animals. If only they knew

    Spectacled flying-fox and baby. Photo: Halley Design

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    the truth! Unfortunately, too manypeople know very little about bats,and what they think they know isoften misinformed. There is intensepressure on governments to relocateproblem ying-fox camps, but ying-fox advocates fear that there are sofew acceptable places for them to go,that they may end up being chasedall over the countryside to no avail.Relocations are rarely successful,and often end up causing biggerproblems than they solve. However,in the past, where governments resistcommunities wishing to move thebats on, colonies have occasionallybeen illegally disturbed, physically

    attacked, or even bulldozed bycommunities taking matters into theirown hands. It is so important thatpeople are taught how to live with andappreciate ying-foxes.

    Living with flying-foxesRegardless of what many people would have you believe, it is possiblefor people and ying-foxes to liveharmoniously side-by-side, if onlythe people are willing. The rst stepis to learn more about ying-foxes facts not rumours. The more youunderstand about an animal, themore you can come to appreciate it. And whatever you learn, teach it to

    others because the more everyoneunderstands what the cause of theseissues really are, the closer we will getto nding real solutions.

    If you live near a ying-fox camp andthe noise is bothering you during theday, rst of all look at why they arenoisy. Are people disturbing them?Maybe some community educationis needed to help the ying-foxes getundisturbed sleep (and hence reducedisturbance to the community). Is itmating season? Maybe you could plansome extra day trips during the seasonto avoid being around the noise. Or you could even get yourself somebinoculars and nd a good vantagepoint to watch the camp. You mayactually nd enjoyment in watchingtheir social antics, and may even ndthat the noise doesnt bother you somuch anymore (people learn to ignoreand even enjoy many bird noises why not ying-foxes?). But if all elsefails, maybe soundproong your homemight be the way to go.

    If ying-foxes are visiting your yard atnight to feed in your trees, be proudthat your garden is providing much-needed food for a species that is soimportant to our unique Australianenvironment. However, if they arefeeding on the fruit of cocos palms, werecommend removing these palms, asthe unripe fruits are toxic to the bats.If the ying-foxes (or other wildlife)are feeding on your fruit trees, youcan either place paper bags over thelow-hanging fruit that you wish to eat,or, if you dont want to share, place asturdy frame over the whole tree andstretch a white knitted bird net (or wire mesh) over the frame and secureit to the ground to exclude animalsfrom accessing the tree withoutentangling them.

    If the noise of ying-foxes feeding atnight is keeping you awake, rememberthat they will only be there for as longas that particular tree is owering orfruiting and then they will move onto another food source. Ear plugs canbe effective to get through that shortperiod. Or if you have trees close bythat are being visited more regularlyby ying-foxes, you might also want toconsider investing in soundproong. Alternatively, if the tree is particularlyclose to your bedroom window,maybe pruning some branches backaway from the window would help toreduce the noise.

    Grey-headed flying fox giving birth. Photo: Nick Edards (www.enigmatech.com.au)

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    Flying-foxes have a very fastmetabolism. Food travels throughtheir gut completely in about 2060minutes. For this reason, most ofthe mess is made by ying-foxes atnight where they feed. If you haveying-foxes feeding around yourhome at night, we suggest bringingin your washing before going to bed

    and parking your car in a carport orgarage, or using a car cover. If you doget mess on your car, it should lift off with a wet rag. Although there is noknown risk of disease transmissionthrough ying-fox urine or faeces,in cases where ying-foxes leavebehind a mess on your property,basic hygiene and cleaning practicesare recommended, eg washing anyoutdoor food preparation surfaces with an appropriate cleaning solution,and cleaning with water any walkingsurfaces that may present a sliphazard.

    Like all other animals, includinghumans, bats can be hosts to virusesand parasites. However, there areonly two diseases known to be carriedby ying-foxes that have ever beencontracted by humans:

    Australian bat lyssavirus (ABL)is a rabies-like virus that has beenidentied in ying-foxes andmicrobats. Only two people haveever contracted the disease onefrom a ying-fox and one froma microbat. Research indicatesthat less than one percent of wildying-foxes carry the virus whichis transmitted by a bite or severescratch from an infected bat. The virus is fatal to both ying-foxesand humans, so it is important tonever handle bats unless you areappropriately trained and haveup-to-date rabies vaccinations.However, it is important toremember that this is not an easydisease to contract it requiresbloodsaliva contact. Since westarted using rabies vaccinations(including post-exposure shots)against this disease, not a singleperson has contracted it.

    Hendra virus (previously equinemorbilli virus) has been detectedin ying-foxes in the form of arespiratory disease (similar toa cold or inuenza virus). Thisdisease can also be contracted byhorses, where the virus becomesdangerous and often fatal to

    the horse. In recent years therehave been a few human deathsassociated with the handling ofhorses infected with this disease.But as people are becomingmore aware of the disease, moreprecautions are being takenin the handling of sick horses.There is a belief that the Hendra

    virus is transmitted to horsesthrough ying-foxes urinating inhorse feed although conclusiveevidence for this or any othermethod of transmission of thedisease to horses is yet to beestablished. No human has evercaught the Hendra virus from aying-fox.

    Histoplasmosis , a respiratoryillness, may be contracted bybreathing in the fungal sporesfound in some bird and microbatcave roosts, where there is highhumidity and these organismsbreed in the guano (droppings). Avoid breathing dust in caves where microbats or swifts roost.This disease has nothing to do with ying-foxes.

    If you nd a bat that is sick or injured,do not touch it, but contact yourlocal wildlife rescue organisationimmediately. If the bat is on theground, place a washing basket orsimilar over it and wait with it until therescuer arrives, taking care to shield itfrom the sun and following any otherinstructions given to you by the rescuer.

    Flying-foxes that are found anywhere within human reach almost certainly will have something wrong withthem and will be in need of rescue,

    examination and probably care. Beaware that bats are not able to aptheir wings and y off the ground likebirds. They need to gain some heightbefore they can get wind under their wings in order to take off. People thathave been in the vicinity when a bathas crash-landed near them may havemistakenly thought that the bat was

    trying to attack them: the bat crawlsalong the ground towards the nearesttall object, (in this case the person)and then attempts to climb up it. Onrare occasions, bats (usually juvenilesthat have not yet perfected their yingskills) have crash-landed directly intopeople. On the off-chance that thisever happens to you, the best wayto avoid being injured is to stay stilland let the ying-fox get its bearingsand maybe climb a little higher sothat it can take off again. After such atraumatic experience it will certainly want to be getting out of there asquickly as possible. Trying to shake offor otherwise manhandle a frightenedbat is a sure-re way of gettingscratched or bitten, or both.

    If bitten or scratched by a bat, washthe wound thoroughly with soapand water for ve minutes and applyan antiseptic solution. See a doctoras soon as possible to care for the wound and to assess whether youmight require a post-exposure rabies vaccination (these are the same shotsgiven to people who are bitten bymonkeys overseas). People such as vets, wildlife researchers, educatorsor carers who handle bats should beup-to-date with their pre-exposurerabies vaccinations in order to protectthemselves against ABL.

    What can you do toconserve the flying-fox?

    The two most important things you can do to help conserve the flying-fox and helpreduce their apparent need for taking refuge in urban and suburban areas (wherefood is reliable but conflict is common) are:

    Support all efforts to protect and regenerate large areas of forests, woodlandsand mangroves, including a mosaic of diet species, across the landscape inorder to provide food and shelter throughout the year.

    Tell others the truth about flying-foxes to help dispel the common myths andto encourage appreciation of these wonderful animals and teach people how tolive harmoniously with them.

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    Left: This photo was taken a short while later ofthe same flying-fox with her new baby.

    Above: A heavily pregnant grey-headedflying-fox and sleepy friend in one of the

    Sydney colonies.Photo by Nick Edards/Enigmatech. Formore photos of flying-foxes visit Nickswebsite at www.enigmatech.com.au

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    Although still dependant on its mother for nutrition, this young grey-headed flying-fox is starting to take a lot of interest in its surroundings.Photo: Nick Edards (www.enigmatech.com.au)Little red flying-fox. Photo: Halley Design

    Pregnant grey-headed flying-fox enjoys the spring sun in a Sydney flying-fox camp. Photo: Nick Edards (www.enigmatech.com.au)

    Spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus ). Photo: Halley Design