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  • Peaks to Points Festival - Brisbane/Ipswich
    July 19, 2008 (1:00 am) - August 02, 2008 (11:59 pm)
    (Sustainability Info)

    Peaks to Points Festival - Communities caring for their Catchments

    The Peaks to Points Festival celebrates the diverse natural environment of greater Brisbane’s southern region, from the dramatic heights of Flinders Peak near Ipswich, to the...

  • Biosphere Workshop - The Gap, Brisbane
    July 26, 2008 (9:30 am - 1:00 pm)
    (Conferences)

    Discover why Queenslanders are advocating that over 1.5 million hectares of the state should become Biosphere Reserves

    In November 2007 the whole of the Noosa Shire (150,000ha) was listed by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve

    The Burnett Mary...

  • Peter Garrett at the Qld Press Club - Brisbane
    July 28, 2008 (12:00 pm)
    (Conferences)

    From the sand hills to the suburbs... steps towards a sustainable Australia
    Your invitation to hear from the Hon Peter Garrett AM, MP, Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts

    The Queensland Media Club, representing the Queensland...

  • Feedback for draft SEQ Water Strategy ends
    July 31, 2008 (12:00 am)
    (Consultations)

    The Queensland Water Commission invites feedback on it's draft SEQ Water Strategy .

    Queensland Conservation will be preparing our response in due course and will post a link to it here.

    Meanwhile you'll find our first impressions here.

  • Ethics in Environmental Decision-making - Brisbane
    July 31, 2008 (1:30 pm)
    (Conferences)

    A half day forum by the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand South East Queensland Division (EIANZ-SEQ)

     Environmental practice is fraught with ethical dilemmas in balancing the demands of clients, the expectations of agencies and...

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Flying Foxes or Fruit Bats

mbvivjones.jpg
Photo kindly reproduced with the permission of Vivien Jones: www.bellinfoxesgen.com/flying

Flying Fox Facts

  • Most bats eat insects, but eight feed only on flowers and fruit, and are known as fruit-bats or flying-foxes
  • Bats are mammals which give birth to live young and produce milk to feed them
  • The preferred food of flying-foxes is the blossom of eucalyptus and some other native trees, and various bush fruits, like Moreton Bay Fig. The bats are beneficial to the trees because they act as pollinators and dispersers of their seeds. The great distances they can fly means they carry pollen and seeds far from the parent tree.
  • Flying foxes are a nocturnal species, spending the day sleeping in large colonies and the night feeding.
  • Flying foxes roost in trees by day, sometimes in extremely large numbers called "camps." They hang from branches by one or both feet, wrap themselves in their wings, and sleep the day away. These camps can be located in swamps, mangroves, rainforests and tall mixed forests often near water.
  • Habitat destruction is one of the biggest threats to the survival of many types of fruit bats. The other major threat is culling by fruit farmers. Barbed wire fences, paralysis ticks are other sources of death. Electricity wires in suburban areas can cause some deaths.

Australian Flying Foxes

Family Chiroptera, subfamily Megachiroptera, genus Pteropus (flying-foxes)

Common Name Species

Grey-headed flying fox * Pteropus poliocephalus
Black flying fox * Pteropus alecto
Little red flying fox * Pteropus scapulatus
Spectacled flying fox * Pteropus conspicillatus
Dusky flying fox Pteropus brunneus
Large-eared flying fox Pteropus macrotis epularius
Torresian flying fox Pteropus banakrisi
Bare-backed flying fox * Dobsonia magna

Source:Flying Foxes Fruit and blossom Bats of Australia, Leslie Hall & Greg Richards.UNSW Press, Sydney, 2000.

Next Page - Flying Fox Species