Orchardists fear the State Government has put the final nail in the coffin of Bundaberg’s fruit-growing industry, after it dismissed a proposal to help them protect their crops against flying foxes. Growers were banned from culling the pests last year, but they launched a desperate appeal to overturn the decision after losing more than 40 per cent of some crops — and millions of dollars across the region. But Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Kate Jones last week shattered their hopes, saying the draft Code of Practice suggested by Bundaberg Orchardists Association and Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers could not be accepted because it suggested culling methods. Lychee grower and Bundaberg Orchardists Association president John Kajewski said he was receiving phone calls from three or four growers every day, who were considering walking away from their farms because of the costs involved with non-lethal pest control methods.
“We don’t eat, we don’t sleep — it’s a 24-hour worry,” Mr Kajewski said. “This is going to be disastrous for the industry.” He has spent more than $150,000 on a lighting system to protect his orchards, but said the losses were still devastating. “Last year we lost 40% of our crops across the board,” he said. “Some growers will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars every season.” He said he was disappointed that Ms Jones had not visited the region to see the damage first hand. “They can shoot (flying foxes) in New South Wales – why can’t we?” he asked. Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Rural and Regional Queensland Tim Mulherin said a long-term flying fox research program was in place to explore their behaviour and examine control methods, including a trial at Childers.
He said the Queensland Government would provide financial assistance including low interest loans, financial counselling and tax breaks for growers. But Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers executive officer Peter Peterson said orchard netting and lighting systems were still prohibitively expensive for growers and had not been proven effective. He said growers should be allowed to cull a small number of the pests while the trials continued to find an effective non-lethal method. “It is seriously putting the sustainability of growers’ businesses at risk, as well as the underlying effect the stress has on their families and the industry as a whole,” Mr Peterson said. “Last year, Stanthorpe was audited to have lost $4 million, and the Bundaberg region is likely to lose much more than that this year.” “We need to have damage mitigation permits (allowing growers to cull the animals) while an effective,integrated non-lethal method is found,” he said. *Newsmail
Ed Comment; Go here to vote wether to cull or not to cull flying foxes,..... http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2009/12/07/bats-to-cost-us-millions-in-crops/
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Bats 18/12/09
Brock Fenton shudders when he thinks of a world without bats. For more than 40 years, Fenton - a professor at the University of Western Ontario and Canada's foremost bat expert - has been visiting an abandoned mine 75 kilometres west of Ottawa near Renfrew, Ont., where bats hibernate by the thousands. Fenton knows that one day soon they may all be gone, killed by a lethal fungus that is destroying the bats of eastern North America. It's called white-nose syndrome and since its appearance less than four years ago, it has killed, by some estimates, more than a million bats in the Northeastern U.S. * read more.... http://www2.canada.com/topics/technology/science/story.html?id=2280718
Federal wildlife officials hoping to check the spread of a disease killing hibernating bats in Eastern states are recommending steps that states farther west should take if "white-nose syndrome" strikes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent recommendations to state and federal land management agencies in about two dozen states Friday outlining precautions for hibernation caves or mines hit by white-nose. They recommend closing affected caves, with a possible exception for researchers. They also recommend research-only access for caves within 75 miles of an affected site. White-nose is estimated to have killed more than a million bats in nine states since it was first noticed in New York in 2006. The syndrome is named for the sugary smudges of fungus on the noses and wings of affected bats. *AP
Federal wildlife officials hoping to check the spread of a disease killing hibernating bats in Eastern states are recommending steps that states farther west should take if "white-nose syndrome" strikes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent recommendations to state and federal land management agencies in about two dozen states Friday outlining precautions for hibernation caves or mines hit by white-nose. They recommend closing affected caves, with a possible exception for researchers. They also recommend research-only access for caves within 75 miles of an affected site. White-nose is estimated to have killed more than a million bats in nine states since it was first noticed in New York in 2006. The syndrome is named for the sugary smudges of fungus on the noses and wings of affected bats. *AP
Monday, November 16, 2009
Flying Foxes 12/11/09
Flying Foxes
Frustrated students will stage a mass walkout of Maclean High School tomorrow in a desperate bid to get authorities to remedy problems caused by a bat colony adjacent to the school The move, which has the backing of the school’s Parents & Citizens Association, was prompted by members of the school’s Student Representative Council and senior students. School captain Phoebe Zietsch said nobody wanted the bats harmed, but the effect on students and their learning environment needed to be highlighted. “They are quite loud even when they’re not flying and we can’t open any windows near where they are,” she said. “They have us pretty much surrounded.” She said students would like Environment Minister Peter Garrett at the school, but only if he was prepared to listen and act. She said students were taken aback by reports that ‘greenies’ had rung the school asking that students be quieter during recess and lunch.
She said students didn’t deliberately make noise to disturb the bats, but wished the callers good luck in trying to keep 1200 students quiet during breaks. Male captain Jordan Fisher said students had a right to come to school and learn in good conditions. “Conditions need to be conducive to learning and at the moment they’re not,” he said. Jordan, who has just started his Year 12 studies, said many of his courses were in the school’s G block, which had high exposure to the bats. He said many staff were supportive of the walkout because they too were affected. “It makes it very difficult for them to teach,” he said. The walkout will coincide with the school recess from 11-11.20am.
P&C president Lorraine White said that at a meeting on Monday night parents voted almost unanimously to support the students. Only teacher members, who have a duty of care to students, abstained from voting. “Hopefully this will generate a bit of media attention and with that the powers that be might be encouraged to do something,” she said. She said bats had defecated on one female staff member, leaving faeces through her hair, face and clothes. A Department of Education spokesman said the school’s focus remained the welfare of the students. *Daily Examiner
A truck fitted with large speakers pumping out "truly annoying sounds'' would circle the Botanic Gardens' flying fox colony each afternoon in the latest desperate bid to drive them away. The colony of 22,000 grey-headed flying foxes is devastating the garden's historic trees. They have already killed 18 trees and damaged more than 300. But the colony has proved impervious to a variety of sometimes bizarre schemes to oust them from the garden's palm grove. The flying foxes have shrugged off garbage cans being banged with sticks, water sprays fitted to tree tops and bags of ``python poo'' (pythons eat flying foxes) hung from branches. But perhaps the strangest strategies were smearing shrimp paste on tree trunks, because flying foxes supposedly hate seafood, and the installation of a giant inflatable man. The foxes weren't bothered by his huge flapping arms, but the generator inflating the man annoyed park staff.
The Botanic Garden Trust's latest plan is now on public display and is awaiting an OK from Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett. `We've come up with what we believe are truly annoying sounds to flying foxes,'' Trust spokeswoman Kerry Brown said yesterday. ``They include whipper snippers, chainsaws, street sweepers, starting pistols, banging metallic objects, and computer generated noises. `They would be played for 10 minutes each hour in the afternoons while the foxes are sleeping.'' ``The aim is to annoy them mightily so, just as they nod off again, the noises would come back.'' The Trust wants the gardens' flying foxes to set up home elsewhere _ probably with one of the six or so other major Sydney colonies, which include Parramatta, Gordon and Wolli Creek. *Daily Telegraph
Frustrated students will stage a mass walkout of Maclean High School tomorrow in a desperate bid to get authorities to remedy problems caused by a bat colony adjacent to the school The move, which has the backing of the school’s Parents & Citizens Association, was prompted by members of the school’s Student Representative Council and senior students. School captain Phoebe Zietsch said nobody wanted the bats harmed, but the effect on students and their learning environment needed to be highlighted. “They are quite loud even when they’re not flying and we can’t open any windows near where they are,” she said. “They have us pretty much surrounded.” She said students would like Environment Minister Peter Garrett at the school, but only if he was prepared to listen and act. She said students were taken aback by reports that ‘greenies’ had rung the school asking that students be quieter during recess and lunch.
She said students didn’t deliberately make noise to disturb the bats, but wished the callers good luck in trying to keep 1200 students quiet during breaks. Male captain Jordan Fisher said students had a right to come to school and learn in good conditions. “Conditions need to be conducive to learning and at the moment they’re not,” he said. Jordan, who has just started his Year 12 studies, said many of his courses were in the school’s G block, which had high exposure to the bats. He said many staff were supportive of the walkout because they too were affected. “It makes it very difficult for them to teach,” he said. The walkout will coincide with the school recess from 11-11.20am.
P&C president Lorraine White said that at a meeting on Monday night parents voted almost unanimously to support the students. Only teacher members, who have a duty of care to students, abstained from voting. “Hopefully this will generate a bit of media attention and with that the powers that be might be encouraged to do something,” she said. She said bats had defecated on one female staff member, leaving faeces through her hair, face and clothes. A Department of Education spokesman said the school’s focus remained the welfare of the students. *Daily Examiner
A truck fitted with large speakers pumping out "truly annoying sounds'' would circle the Botanic Gardens' flying fox colony each afternoon in the latest desperate bid to drive them away. The colony of 22,000 grey-headed flying foxes is devastating the garden's historic trees. They have already killed 18 trees and damaged more than 300. But the colony has proved impervious to a variety of sometimes bizarre schemes to oust them from the garden's palm grove. The flying foxes have shrugged off garbage cans being banged with sticks, water sprays fitted to tree tops and bags of ``python poo'' (pythons eat flying foxes) hung from branches. But perhaps the strangest strategies were smearing shrimp paste on tree trunks, because flying foxes supposedly hate seafood, and the installation of a giant inflatable man. The foxes weren't bothered by his huge flapping arms, but the generator inflating the man annoyed park staff.
The Botanic Garden Trust's latest plan is now on public display and is awaiting an OK from Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett. `We've come up with what we believe are truly annoying sounds to flying foxes,'' Trust spokeswoman Kerry Brown said yesterday. ``They include whipper snippers, chainsaws, street sweepers, starting pistols, banging metallic objects, and computer generated noises. `They would be played for 10 minutes each hour in the afternoons while the foxes are sleeping.'' ``The aim is to annoy them mightily so, just as they nod off again, the noises would come back.'' The Trust wants the gardens' flying foxes to set up home elsewhere _ probably with one of the six or so other major Sydney colonies, which include Parramatta, Gordon and Wolli Creek. *Daily Telegraph
Monday, November 2, 2009
Flying Fox Update
We are hearing that he Qld Government have issued a Permit for flying foxes to be "relocated", by using a helicopter to hover over them and blow them from the trees, has been issued to the Charters Towers Council. However the Permit only covers the black flying fox, and as there are red flying foxes living in the colony, the Council fortunately can't progress the Permit. The former Charters Towers City Council was granted several damage mitigation permits to remove the flying foxes from the urban area, but dispersal to a location on the outskirts of town has always failed. But issuing a Permit to use helicopters to blow the flying foxes away is an appalling act of bad judgement. There are other areas where local bat-hating residents want to move the flying foxes on, and they will wan't to use choppers now. But ...the Queensland Labor Government...what else can we expect.....WPAA
Flying foxes are being shot for food at Woodend in Ipswich and Hemmant in Brisbane's eastern suburbs, say bat carers. Bat Care Queensland spokeswoman Louise Saunders yesterday said while flying foxes were a major food for many cultures, discharging firearms in built-up areas was illegal and flying fox numbers were threatened. Sustainability Minister Kate Jones yesterday ordered an investigation into the allegations and said anyone found guilty of killing flying foxes faced a $10,000 fine. Ms Saunders said people undertaking counts at the roosts had reported people of Polynesian descent were involved. `I understand absolutely that there are cultural issues here,'' she said. ``This is not about anyone's heritage but about seeing that one of the most important mammals in our environment is able to survive. ``It's probably just a situation where people do not realise that shooting in a built-up area is illegal and taking wildlife if you are not indigenous is also illegal.'' Logan Samoa Advisory Council treasurer Anne Siakisini said she did not know of anyone who had eaten flying foxes . * Courier Mail
Mackay has been granted permission to remove a flying fox colony disturbing residents. Mackay Regional Council officers will be allowed to use non-lethal methods, including fogging trees, loud noise and bright lights. Describing the animals as a nuisance to the community, Sustainability Minister Kate Jones said yesterday she approved the permit so long as no practices were harmful to the species. Residents at North Eton near Mackay had threatened to shoot flying foxes after Hendra virus-related health scares. In November 2007, more than 20 of the protected creatures were shot and bludgeoned to death at the rural-residential community. ``While flying foxes play an important pollinating role . . . they can be a nuisance for residents,'' Ms Jones said. ``The department has carefully weighed up these exceptional circumstances.'' Bat Care Brisbane spokeswoman Louise Saunders yesterday said it was sad that people could not tolerate the natural environment. ``I haven't seen the North Eton colony . . . but I live 100m from a bat colony and it's no problem at all,'' Ms Saunders said. ``Often you find with these things, it's just a handful of people complaining.'' * Courier Mail
The NSW State Government began issuing licences for the shooting of flying foxes this week, even though its own advisory panel warns that shooting the animals breaches animal cruelty laws. The Government's new shooting protocols, finalised this week, say hunters must find and kill baby bats with a blunt instrument if their mothers are shot to prevent them dying a lingering death. NSW is now the only state to permit bat shooting after Queensland banned it last year. The NSW Farmers Association says fruit growers must protect their crops from foraging bats. A coalition of 60 environment groups is seeking a ban. "The animal welfare issues that result from shooting as a method of mitigating crop damage caused by flying foxes are unacceptable ethically and legally," the Government's advisory panel concluded. It also found that "shooting is ineffective" when larger numbers of flying foxes visit orchards.
The concern is that shotgun pellets scatter widely, wounding many bats but killing only a few. Alexia Wellbelove, a spokeswoman for Humane Society International, said: "What the NSW Government is doing is nothing less than sanctioning animal cruelty." The Government said shooting was not a perfect solution but animal welfare had to be balanced against the need to protect crops from bats. "It will continue this year as an interim measure," said Simon Smith, the Environment Department's deputy director-general. "We're in the process of looking at the long-term solution, which includes evaluating the cost of providing orchards with nets." *SMH
Flying foxes are being shot for food at Woodend in Ipswich and Hemmant in Brisbane's eastern suburbs, say bat carers. Bat Care Queensland spokeswoman Louise Saunders yesterday said while flying foxes were a major food for many cultures, discharging firearms in built-up areas was illegal and flying fox numbers were threatened. Sustainability Minister Kate Jones yesterday ordered an investigation into the allegations and said anyone found guilty of killing flying foxes faced a $10,000 fine. Ms Saunders said people undertaking counts at the roosts had reported people of Polynesian descent were involved. `I understand absolutely that there are cultural issues here,'' she said. ``This is not about anyone's heritage but about seeing that one of the most important mammals in our environment is able to survive. ``It's probably just a situation where people do not realise that shooting in a built-up area is illegal and taking wildlife if you are not indigenous is also illegal.'' Logan Samoa Advisory Council treasurer Anne Siakisini said she did not know of anyone who had eaten flying foxes . * Courier Mail
Mackay has been granted permission to remove a flying fox colony disturbing residents. Mackay Regional Council officers will be allowed to use non-lethal methods, including fogging trees, loud noise and bright lights. Describing the animals as a nuisance to the community, Sustainability Minister Kate Jones said yesterday she approved the permit so long as no practices were harmful to the species. Residents at North Eton near Mackay had threatened to shoot flying foxes after Hendra virus-related health scares. In November 2007, more than 20 of the protected creatures were shot and bludgeoned to death at the rural-residential community. ``While flying foxes play an important pollinating role . . . they can be a nuisance for residents,'' Ms Jones said. ``The department has carefully weighed up these exceptional circumstances.'' Bat Care Brisbane spokeswoman Louise Saunders yesterday said it was sad that people could not tolerate the natural environment. ``I haven't seen the North Eton colony . . . but I live 100m from a bat colony and it's no problem at all,'' Ms Saunders said. ``Often you find with these things, it's just a handful of people complaining.'' * Courier Mail
The NSW State Government began issuing licences for the shooting of flying foxes this week, even though its own advisory panel warns that shooting the animals breaches animal cruelty laws. The Government's new shooting protocols, finalised this week, say hunters must find and kill baby bats with a blunt instrument if their mothers are shot to prevent them dying a lingering death. NSW is now the only state to permit bat shooting after Queensland banned it last year. The NSW Farmers Association says fruit growers must protect their crops from foraging bats. A coalition of 60 environment groups is seeking a ban. "The animal welfare issues that result from shooting as a method of mitigating crop damage caused by flying foxes are unacceptable ethically and legally," the Government's advisory panel concluded. It also found that "shooting is ineffective" when larger numbers of flying foxes visit orchards.
The concern is that shotgun pellets scatter widely, wounding many bats but killing only a few. Alexia Wellbelove, a spokeswoman for Humane Society International, said: "What the NSW Government is doing is nothing less than sanctioning animal cruelty." The Government said shooting was not a perfect solution but animal welfare had to be balanced against the need to protect crops from bats. "It will continue this year as an interim measure," said Simon Smith, the Environment Department's deputy director-general. "We're in the process of looking at the long-term solution, which includes evaluating the cost of providing orchards with nets." *SMH
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Flying Foxes at Nth Eton
The Queensland Government says it will decide next week whether to relocate bat colonies near homes in a community in the state's north. The Mackay Regional Council has asked the Department of Environment and Resource Management to move the bat colonies at North Eton a week ago. Residents have raised health concerns with the council about bat faeces near their homes and water tanks. A spokesman from the department says the submission is still being assessed. We think its unlikely that a relocation will go ahead, under current Qld Government policy. In the past, local residents have burnt the trees and killed many of the flying foxes. *WPAA
Monday, August 24, 2009
Hendra Virus and Flying Foxes.
An outbreak of Hendra virus at a horse stud in Central Queensland has opened up an opportunity for more strident calls for the killing of flying foxes in the Ross Creek and Cawarral areas.
The flying fox colony at Yeppoon in Ross Creek has had much controversy over the years. In the 1930's, the local Council organised a yearly "posse" of residents armed with shotguns to get rid of them, and some residents still stay the "posse" should come back.
It's sometimes hard to understand why some people hate animals so much, with all the information that is availabe for people to educate themselves about wildlife, and how important it is for our own survival. Much of the Central Queensland coastal tropical vine scrub that provided food for the flying foxes has gone under for houses and development, so now they have to forage wherever they can. *WPAA
The flying fox colony at Yeppoon in Ross Creek has had much controversy over the years. In the 1930's, the local Council organised a yearly "posse" of residents armed with shotguns to get rid of them, and some residents still stay the "posse" should come back.
It's sometimes hard to understand why some people hate animals so much, with all the information that is availabe for people to educate themselves about wildlife, and how important it is for our own survival. Much of the Central Queensland coastal tropical vine scrub that provided food for the flying foxes has gone under for houses and development, so now they have to forage wherever they can. *WPAA
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Flying Fox Shooting Code of Pratice to be Introduced!
NSW DECC have asked DPI to develop a "Code of Practice" to manage the shooting of flying-foxes. A Code of Practise is intended to ensure that any shooting is done in a humane and ethical manner. You may recall there was a review of shooting recently undertaken by an independent panel. This review has not been released although the Department undertook to release it publicly by the end of May 2009. This review is widely believed to find that shooting is cruel and inhumane. The review was informed by a report written by Anja Divljan, Kerryn Parry-Jones and Peggy Eby on the deaths and injuries sustained by a number of flying-foxes that were recovered from an Orchard after shooting. This report is available here : http://www.hsi.org.au/index.php?catID=263
There is no way any Code of Practise can address the cruelty that occurs as a result of shooting of flying-foxes for "orchard protection" because: - They are shooting a dark moving target against a dark sky- The vital organs of a flying-fox represent a very small proportion of the total area of the animal and its body mass is far more dense than, for example a bird. This makes it easy to wound an animal (wing bone breaks are fatal but not immediately) but very difficult to make a quick kill.- Shooting takes place during the time when flying-foxes are birthing and raising young. Every lactating female has young that either dies with her in the orchard or starves to death in the camp- The Divljan report that the animals recovered from the orchard were strongly biased to females 1.67 females for every 1 male.
Of those animals 65% were lactating females (see below for more statistical information from the report).- The people collecting the flying-foxes in the orchards were able to see animals that were hanging in inaccessible positions that were alive until at least the following day after shooting. These animals could not be recovered for examination and euthanasia and are assumed to have died from their injuries, dehydration, starvation, predation or infection some time later. In addition, licensed shooting of a species that the vulnerable to extinction is incompatible with the NSW government's conservation responsibilities.
So - to the action needed- please write to Carmel Tebbutt and tell her that NO Code of Practise can ever address the issues of cruelty that occur with shooting and that she must cease issuing licences to harm for the purposes of crop protection. It is urgent that these letters get Minister Tebbutt as soon as possible. Shooting is likely to start again in August.
Carmel Tebbutt's address is: The Hon. Carmel Tebbutt, NSW Minister for Environment, Level 30, Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place,SYDNEY NSW 2000 Phone (02) 9228 4866 Fax (02) 9228 4855 dp.office@tebbutt.minister.nsw.gov.au
Please send a copy of any letter you send to Ian McDonald.
The Hon. Ian Macdonald,, Minister for Primary Industries, Level 33 Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000 Phone (02) 9228 3344 Fax (02) 9228 3452 Email macdonald.office@macdonald.minister.nsw.gov.au networkItem
There is no way any Code of Practise can address the cruelty that occurs as a result of shooting of flying-foxes for "orchard protection" because: - They are shooting a dark moving target against a dark sky- The vital organs of a flying-fox represent a very small proportion of the total area of the animal and its body mass is far more dense than, for example a bird. This makes it easy to wound an animal (wing bone breaks are fatal but not immediately) but very difficult to make a quick kill.- Shooting takes place during the time when flying-foxes are birthing and raising young. Every lactating female has young that either dies with her in the orchard or starves to death in the camp- The Divljan report that the animals recovered from the orchard were strongly biased to females 1.67 females for every 1 male.
Of those animals 65% were lactating females (see below for more statistical information from the report).- The people collecting the flying-foxes in the orchards were able to see animals that were hanging in inaccessible positions that were alive until at least the following day after shooting. These animals could not be recovered for examination and euthanasia and are assumed to have died from their injuries, dehydration, starvation, predation or infection some time later. In addition, licensed shooting of a species that the vulnerable to extinction is incompatible with the NSW government's conservation responsibilities.
So - to the action needed- please write to Carmel Tebbutt and tell her that NO Code of Practise can ever address the issues of cruelty that occur with shooting and that she must cease issuing licences to harm for the purposes of crop protection. It is urgent that these letters get Minister Tebbutt as soon as possible. Shooting is likely to start again in August.
Carmel Tebbutt's address is: The Hon. Carmel Tebbutt, NSW Minister for Environment, Level 30, Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place,SYDNEY NSW 2000 Phone (02) 9228 4866 Fax (02) 9228 4855 dp.office@tebbutt.minister.nsw.gov.au
Please send a copy of any letter you send to Ian McDonald.
The Hon. Ian Macdonald,, Minister for Primary Industries, Level 33 Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000 Phone (02) 9228 3344 Fax (02) 9228 3452 Email macdonald.office@macdonald.minister.nsw.gov.au networkItem
Fraer Island declared a Biosphere
Fraser Island
The Great Sandy region, which includes Fraser Island, has been declared a biosphere reserve at a UNESCO meeting in South Korea. Biospheres are sites of significant biodiversity that are managed under strict conservation and sustainable development principles. The reserves are recognised under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere program. Burnett Mary Regional Group chief executive David Brown says the region is very unique. "There is an underlying geophysical feature - the Cooloola sand mass - which is why Fraser Island is one, if not the world's largest sand island," he said. "Along with the Great Sandy Strait, there is also a whole series of interesting habitat on the mainland and Fraser which are actually unique globally. "It results in an amazing range of biodiversity, both fauna and flora." The Great Sandy Region is the 15th biosphere to be declared in Australia. *ABC
Ed Comment; What that will mean for the much persecuted Fraser Island dingoes we have no idea, probably no changes to current "management" will take place.
The Great Sandy region, which includes Fraser Island, has been declared a biosphere reserve at a UNESCO meeting in South Korea. Biospheres are sites of significant biodiversity that are managed under strict conservation and sustainable development principles. The reserves are recognised under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere program. Burnett Mary Regional Group chief executive David Brown says the region is very unique. "There is an underlying geophysical feature - the Cooloola sand mass - which is why Fraser Island is one, if not the world's largest sand island," he said. "Along with the Great Sandy Strait, there is also a whole series of interesting habitat on the mainland and Fraser which are actually unique globally. "It results in an amazing range of biodiversity, both fauna and flora." The Great Sandy Region is the 15th biosphere to be declared in Australia. *ABC
Ed Comment; What that will mean for the much persecuted Fraser Island dingoes we have no idea, probably no changes to current "management" will take place.
Sydney RBG Flying Foxes
Flying foxes that call Sydney's Botanic Gardens home have been given a reprieve, after a plan to relocate them was postponed. The Botanic Gardens Trust was hoping to drive the flying foxes away by disturbing them with noise. The trust says the relocation is neccessary to protect the historical trees in the gardens. The relocation has now been put on hold for a year because of concerns the flying foxes would relocate to unsuitable areas. Botanic Gardens Trust executive director, Dr Tim Entwisle, says they could not get the necessary approvals in time to move the animals. "It means the flying foxes in the Royal Botanic Gardens are here for another year," he said. "We've already lost 18 trees in the last 20 years they've been here, but we think we can nurse those through as long as we relocate in the following year." *ABC
Ed Comment; What this means is that the Federal Government are still considering the proposal which has been strongly oppposed by many wildlife gropus.
Ed Comment; What this means is that the Federal Government are still considering the proposal which has been strongly oppposed by many wildlife gropus.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
RAAF tree change targets Tindal bat plague The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has resorted to tree lopping to stop hundreds of thousands of flying foxes from roosting at a Top End air base. The flying foxes are the second animal problem the Tindal base, near Katherine, has faced with the airstrip closed to aero-medical services for the past 18 months due to a wallaby plague. The RAAF Wing Commander Rohan Gaskill says a health threat assessment has been carried out.
"The assessment found that the physical risks, although they are there, they are relatively low. The risks do exist and Defence is trying to minimise those risks," he said. Wing Commander Gaskill says techniques involving noise and water have not worked well. "The one that is working for getting the flying foxes away from the immediate proximity of houses is the lopping of the trees that they do like to roost in, particularly the african mahogany species, along with a couple of other species we do have growing in the area," he said. *NT News
"The assessment found that the physical risks, although they are there, they are relatively low. The risks do exist and Defence is trying to minimise those risks," he said. Wing Commander Gaskill says techniques involving noise and water have not worked well. "The one that is working for getting the flying foxes away from the immediate proximity of houses is the lopping of the trees that they do like to roost in, particularly the african mahogany species, along with a couple of other species we do have growing in the area," he said. *NT News
Bats spread the Ebola virus to humans and play a pivotal role in disease outbreaks, evidence suggests. Ebola, a filovirus, causes fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and sometimes bleeding. There is no treatment or vaccine and 25–90 per cent of infected people die. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with infected blood, body fluids and tissues. The new findings have emerged from data collected in the remote Kasai-Occidental and Kasai provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which experienced a large Ebola outbreak in 2007 in which 186 people died. Some members of the research team helped discover in 2005 that fruit bats are a natural reservoir of the Ebola virus.
For the new study, researchers led by Eric Leroy from the International Centre for Medical Research in Franceville, Gabon, interviewed locals about the background of the Ebola cases. They were told that the annual migration of the fruit bat Hypsignathus monstrosus was particularly large in 2007. Bats are an important source of protein in the area as wild animals are in short supply. They are often shot and then sold covered in blood. The researchers believe the source of the 2007 outbreak was a man who bought bats at market. He survived, experiencing only a low fever, but his four-year-old daughter died after developing a sudden fever accompanied by vomiting. A family friend who prepared the girl’s body for burial was subsequently infected and went on to infect 11 members of her family, all of whom died. Researchers say their study suggests infection is only transmitted after prolonged contact with an infected person, meaning it may be easier to contain an outbreak than was previously believed.
Jean-Jacques Muyembe, epidemiologist at the DRC’s National Biomedical Research Institute and co-author of the study, told SciDev.Net that the team will continue to retrace events around outbreaks and carry out ecological studies in bats “to definitely prove that these bats are the direct vectors of Ebola to humans”. Vital Mondonge, a co-author from the infectious disease section of DRC’s health ministry, says that the bat migration should be a focus of efforts to prevent Ebola infection. Chimpanzees and gorillas are also known Ebola vectors. Bats, however, appear not to die from Ebola, suggesting they play a role in maintaining the virus in tropical forests. *SciDev.Net
For the new study, researchers led by Eric Leroy from the International Centre for Medical Research in Franceville, Gabon, interviewed locals about the background of the Ebola cases. They were told that the annual migration of the fruit bat Hypsignathus monstrosus was particularly large in 2007. Bats are an important source of protein in the area as wild animals are in short supply. They are often shot and then sold covered in blood. The researchers believe the source of the 2007 outbreak was a man who bought bats at market. He survived, experiencing only a low fever, but his four-year-old daughter died after developing a sudden fever accompanied by vomiting. A family friend who prepared the girl’s body for burial was subsequently infected and went on to infect 11 members of her family, all of whom died. Researchers say their study suggests infection is only transmitted after prolonged contact with an infected person, meaning it may be easier to contain an outbreak than was previously believed.
Jean-Jacques Muyembe, epidemiologist at the DRC’s National Biomedical Research Institute and co-author of the study, told SciDev.Net that the team will continue to retrace events around outbreaks and carry out ecological studies in bats “to definitely prove that these bats are the direct vectors of Ebola to humans”. Vital Mondonge, a co-author from the infectious disease section of DRC’s health ministry, says that the bat migration should be a focus of efforts to prevent Ebola infection. Chimpanzees and gorillas are also known Ebola vectors. Bats, however, appear not to die from Ebola, suggesting they play a role in maintaining the virus in tropical forests. *SciDev.Net
What happens if you play Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell to flying foxes? You'll find yourself in court. Mayor Brad Carter might not have been entirely serious when he suggested playing loud music to Yeppoon's troublesome colony of smelly bats. “It's been suggested they don't like music and if we played it to them they might go away,” he said during a discussion on the potential health-threat posed by the colony. But the notion got short shrift from Joe Adair from the Department of Environment and Resource Management. Mr Adair had been asked to address councillors on the big bat issue. “There are a number of things you can do to disturb flying foxes,” he said. “And if you knowingly do any of them you'll be breaking the law.”
The Yeppoon colony had been there for many years, roosting in the mangroves at Ross Creek. And it looks as if they are there to stay until they decide it's time to move on. “It's illegal to destroy a flying fox roost,” said Mr Adair, who said the colony had fluctuated in size over time. “There are about 10,000 now where there used to be 50,000 and one of the puzzling questions is 'where did they all go?'” Cr Carter said there was a perception at the coast the colony posed a risk to human health and the council wanted to know if there was anything it could do. But Mr Adair said there had never been a single recorded instance in Queensland of health issues in humans caused by flying foxes, although he admitted he was not an expert on what people might catch from them. “Our advice is that they pose no risk,” he said, stressing that numbers were reducing and the species was under threat as suitable habitats were lost.
Cr Cherie Rutherford raised smiles when she asked how the bats defecated when they were hanging upside down. “How do they avoid messing on themselves?” she wondered. Mr Adair said the bats didn't soil the colony, but excreted as they flew, away from their roosts. "The colony might smell strongly, but it's very clean,” he said. Councillors will now seek a meeting with experts from Queensland Health for reassurances that the bats are not a health threat. *Morning Bulletin
The Yeppoon colony had been there for many years, roosting in the mangroves at Ross Creek. And it looks as if they are there to stay until they decide it's time to move on. “It's illegal to destroy a flying fox roost,” said Mr Adair, who said the colony had fluctuated in size over time. “There are about 10,000 now where there used to be 50,000 and one of the puzzling questions is 'where did they all go?'” Cr Carter said there was a perception at the coast the colony posed a risk to human health and the council wanted to know if there was anything it could do. But Mr Adair said there had never been a single recorded instance in Queensland of health issues in humans caused by flying foxes, although he admitted he was not an expert on what people might catch from them. “Our advice is that they pose no risk,” he said, stressing that numbers were reducing and the species was under threat as suitable habitats were lost.
Cr Cherie Rutherford raised smiles when she asked how the bats defecated when they were hanging upside down. “How do they avoid messing on themselves?” she wondered. Mr Adair said the bats didn't soil the colony, but excreted as they flew, away from their roosts. "The colony might smell strongly, but it's very clean,” he said. Councillors will now seek a meeting with experts from Queensland Health for reassurances that the bats are not a health threat. *Morning Bulletin
Plague-like proportions of bats are the latest animal problem to hit the Tindal RAAF base in Katherine. Roving numbers of wallabies at the base have seen aircraft stop landing there at night. Now large bat numbers are damaging trees there, Wing Commander Rohan Gaskill says. But he has told the ABC's Country Hour the bats are not interfering with flights. "Although they do fly towards the air field in the evening and around dawn and dusk, it is not really causing major problems," he said. "Our flying is normally day flying or night flying and the bats are cleared away at those times." *ABC
Fruit growers in Queensland say the search for an effective non-lethal flying fox control is taking too long. The Queensland Government introduced a ban on shooting flying foxes last year, saying the practice was inhumane. A working group of Government representatives and growers was formed this year to find a viable alternative to protect crops. But Bundaberg Orchardists' president John Kajewski says growers need a solution before fruit starts growing again on trees. "Yes, we can gladly keep going on with trials and do data, but we need a back up plan for when this plague of flying foxes comes in." The Queensland Primary Industry and Fisheries Department and EPA will develop a draft action plan for the Flying Fox Working Group to consider. *ABC
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