Flying foxes don’t know their local government boundaries.

That’s one of the key messages driving a renewed push by councils in Queensland calling on the State to recognise that flying-foxes travel large distances across multiple local government jurisdictions.

Did you know?

• At least 47 towns and suburbs in Queensland are significantly impacted by flying-foxes on a regular basis, according to the Local Government Association of Queensland.
• The impact of smell, noise and mess to residents is significant, and often results in the closure of community assets such as parks, kindergartens and pools.
• In some cases, several hundred thousand flying-foxes will descend on a town in response to a blooming event.

What’s the solution?

Managing flying-foxes based on population scale, not an arbitrary geographic area.

This approach requires centralised decision-making and coordinated collection of data and information resources.

Queensland councils passed a motion at the 2017 LGAQ Annual Conference calling for:

1. State-wide management recognising that flying-foxes travel large distances across multiple local government boundaries; and
2. Funding to support the management of flying fox colonies and dispersal activities.

There is precedent for support for centralised management.

Interstate, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage has provided funding to councils to develop roost management plans and undertake emergency and general roost management actions.

Get a sense of scale

Watch about 200, 000 flying foxes fill the sky at dusk in Charters Towers.