WPSQ Bayside Branch

Flying foxes (also called fruit bats) are members of the large group of mammals called bats. They are the only group of mammals capable of sustained flight. There are four recognised species on mainland Australia: little red, grey-headed, black and spectacled. They have a very keen sense of smell and good eyesight, both of which are needed to locate their food during the night. Flying foxes are a protected native Australian species. They are usually found in coastal areas of melaleuca and casuarina swamps, mangroves, heaths, dry and wet eucalypt forests, woodlands and rainforests. The little red flying fox can also be found further inland in arid and semi-arid areas.

Flying foxes only have one live young per year. The little red gives birth around April / May, whilst the remaining three species give birth around October / November. The young are carried by their mother for four to five weeks until they are fully furred. They begin to fly at about eight to 10 weeks and feed by themselves at 12 weeks.

After four to five weeks, the young are left in trees with other young whilst the mother goes at night to search for food.

Females start breeding when they are two to three years of age. Males form either paired or harem groups during the mating season. It is during this season that flying foxes tend to be noisiest due to the defending of territories. It is also during this time that the camp site appears to emit the strongest odour due to secretions from the male scent glands.

Camp sites are very important to the survival of flying foxes, as this is where they are born, grow, form relationships and learn to survive. Camp sites may be permanently or temporarily occupied throughout the year depending on the season and the availability of food.

The size of the camp site may also vary during the year, increasing when there is a good food source around or when mothers arrive to give birth to their young. Numbers may also increase if there is little food elsewhere or another camp site has been disturbed or destroyed. A decrease in numbers usually indicates poor food in the area or disturbance of the camp site.

Flying foxes need camp sites made up of large areas so that they can circulate with the site according to the defoliation of the trees in which they roost. Currently many sites sustain more damage due to the small areas that flying foxes are now confined to and due to their staying longer because of lack of food elsewhere or due to the extensive distances that now exist between camp sites. Camp sites are usually located on rivers, creeks or near large bodies of water, which provide both fresh water and a navigation device when coming home at night.

Flying foxes are very fond of the nectar, pollen and fruit of native Australian trees such as eucalypts, melaleucas, banksia, lilly pilly and moreton bay figs. Although they do consume cultivated fruit, such as peaches, mangoes and pawpaws, they only do so when their native food is scarce.

Flying foxes generally migrate from one area to another depending on the amount of food available. Unfortunately, with land clearing for agriculture and urban development, the flying foxes have very few areas in which they can migrate to once flowering and fruiting ceases in another area, and so find it necessary to sometimes eat cultivated fruit.

The food that flying foxes eat and the method by which they forage and process that food has lead to the flying fox being one of the most efficient pollinators and seed dispersers of native Australian forest trees.

As they move amongst the flowers of eucalypts or melaleucas searching for nectar, large amounts of pollen attach to their fur. When they fly to the next tree, which may be several kilometres away, this pollen is deposited on the stigma of awaiting flowers. Such transport of pollen is very important for trees such as eucalypts as they rely on cross pollination, i.e., pollen coming in from other trees which are a substantial distance away.

In the case of seed dispersal, many seeds will not grow unless they are a certain distance away from the parent tree. Flying foxes carry out seed dispersal by three methods:

carrying the fruit away and dropping it accidentally;
carrying the fruit away, eating the flesh and spitting out the seeds; and
consuming the fruit and seeds, but passing the seeds through the gut, with the seeds being dispersed through the faeces as they fly from tree to tree.

Flying fox numbers have decreased dramatically over the last 50 years due to loss of habitat and poor management procedures. Threats to flying foxes include

shooting,
electrical grids and power lines,
tick paralysis (in spectacled flying foxes), and
land clearing which leads to loss of food treas and roosting sites.

Occasionally, juvenile or injured bats may be found on the ground or caught in barbed-wire fencing. Do not handle these animals, but immediately contact Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service on (07) 3202 0200 and your call will be directed to a qualified wildlife carer.