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Baby orphaned fruit bat

Have you noticed how over the last 50 years or so that people’s thoughts about local wildlife has changed? Not too long ago people hunted the wild animals of South Africa for sport (and to get rid of annoying animals who had the temerity to get angry when humans encroached on their territory).  These days most South African countries only survive through eco-tourism – people travelling vast distances to see wildlife in their native habitat.

Watching the annual migration of hump-back whales has become a national pass-time in Australia, and hand feeding wild dolphins one of the top tourist attractions in Brisbane. Swimming with white pointer sharks in South Australia and hunting crocodiles in Kakadu with cameras is another favourite tourist experience.

Last night we went on another animal experience – a Batty Boat Cruise run by the Queensland Wildlife Preservation Society. This cruise up the Brisbane river wound its way up to one of the main fruit bat roosts at Indooroopilly Island, to watch the evening fly out at dusk. It was accompanied by expert commentators who shared their knowledge of the local area, and fruit bats/microbats in particular.

Fruit bats have copped a lot of bad press lately. Many towns hate fruit bats and do everything possible to “move them on” or kills them (in some states). Fruit farmers hate fruit bats who do what they naturally do – eat fruit. People are terrified of them – thinking they are full of disease such as the Hendra virus – even though there is no known transmission of Hendra from fruitbats to humans.

What people forget is that without fruit bats most of Australia’s trees and many of our native wildlife would die. Every single last koala eucalypt that has grown wild is only there because a fruit bat helped its pollination. Kill the fruit bats and you doom our already endangered koalas.

Microbats are some of the tiniest bats, and eat up to 1000 mosquitoes  an hour – they are nature’s natural pest controllers. Kill them and the mosquito population will explode.

The thing both my kids and I loved most about the batty cruise wasn’t the bat fly out (which was spectacular), it was seeing the many carers of orphaned fruit bats on the cruise. There were babies from one tiny premature fruit bat (it didn’t have it’s eyes open and full term fruit bats are born with open eyes), through to rambunctious toddlers who took great delight in exploring nearby stair rails and other carers.

We were not allowed to touch these babies, but just watching their need and love of cuddles and affection it was hard to marry this with the hatred many people feel towards fruit bats.  They are 100% cute and adorable – with little possum like faces and eyes that peer deep into your own.

Like many human babies, fruit bats need dummies to suckle, as they spend the first part of their life attached to their mothers teat, and just like human babies they cry if they lose their dummy.

Just like human babies, their bat mothers form a strong bond with their baby – often returning the next few nights to the same place they lost their baby to call for them and to try and find their lost babies.

Most orphaned bats come about because the mother was electrocuted by power lines, or caught on barbed wire fences. If you see a dead fruit bat in October – January, call the Bat Rescue Helpline on 0488 228 134 and they will send a volunteer to check for any babies. Without our help these babies face a slow agonising death.

If you are in Brisbane, going on a Batty Boat Cruise will be one of the most enlightening things you will do.  I guarantee you will never look at fruit bats the same way again. Us … we are hooked. If we didn’t have our office cats, we would happily take on the role of orphan bat carers. They are truly beautiful and amazing creatures!

Hanging around with a baby fruit bat

Ingrid Cliff

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Heart Harmony – Freelance Writer