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

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