Flying fox dispersal too risky for now

Mayor Lindsay Brown says the Member for Bega’s call for the Batemans Bay flying foxes to be dispersed is ill-informed and would have significant consequences for the community.

“The Office of Environment and Heritage have told us that the number of flying foxes in Batemans Bay is unprecedented and numbers are around the 100,000 mark. This represents almost 20 per cent of the national population of flying foxes currently roosting in Eurobodalla.

“Mr Constance might think it’s worth the risk to disperse the flying foxes in the hope they’ll move into a national park. Under the current circumstances, Council does not, and nor did the independent community committee who helped prepare our Water Gardens flying fox management plan late last year.

“We’d all like the bats to go and live in a national park. But the evidence from around Australia is that they won’t and I am not prepared to take that risk on behalf of the community right now.

“Do Eurobodalla residents really want 100,000 bats dispersed and looking for a new home? Is it reasonable to shift the problem to someone else when the research has shown the flying foxes will try and set up camp less than one kilometre from the original camp? There is no ability to just up and move a colony to a national park. That is simply wrong.

“Council has not sought an approval for dispersal at the Water Gardens because the community and the independent committee overwhelmingly rejected dispersal as an option because of the unpredictability of where the animals would go. There are 10 identified sites in the Bay urban area alone where they might go if we try to disperse them.

“The Sutherland Shire camp mentioned by Mr Constance is the Kareela Camp and our advice from the ecologist in charge of that dispersal, who in fact also developed our Water Gardens camp management plan, is that it’s a very different circumstance to the Water Gardens geographically. In a much smaller and more contained area with a population of less than 20,000 flying foxes, that dispersal has taken enormous time, resourcing, funding, and careful management. The monitoring at that site and others in the region is ongoing.

“When we prepared our Water Gardens flying fox management plan we investigated the cost of a dispersal, which involves months of extremely loud noise, smoke and light every day in the pre-dawn to try and stop the animals returning to the camp. For the Water Gardens camp alone we were looking at $500,000 to one million dollars. Today we have four or five times as many flying foxes in Batemans Bay, but the uncertain outcome of a dispersal remains the same.

“This is a bigger problem than Eurobodalla Shire Council can manage on its own and once again I simply ask that all levels of government cooperate to help our communities.”

Information from the Office of Environment and Heritage about the flying foxes in Eurobodalla: It appears that the flying foxes have arrived in Eurobodalla to feed on spotted gums, which are currently flowering, and are a favoured food source. A number of rainforest species are also fruiting, which will be providing a supplementary food source.Flowering patterns in spotted gums are particularly variable, with the species being renowned for occasional years of mass flowering. This year may be one of them.It is unclear where the flying-foxes have come from, but they will have left areas where food is in short supply and come to the Batemans Bay and surrounding areas to take advantage of the food being provided locally and by the surrounding forests.