Here's the facts on flying foxes

By Liz Moore columnist for Noosa Journal January 2012

NOOSA: How qualified are our political representatives to make the calls they do?
Last year, it was Caloundra MP Mark McArdle calling for a cull of our native bat population. Now it’s another Coast representative, Peter Wellington, using his position in Parliament to suggest the same thing.
And there have been too many other gung-ho political exterminators peddling the same deadly line in between.
But do they seriously understand what it is they’re suggesting?
Have they researched or even just looked at the science behind their supposed Hendra virus solution, or are they willing to endanger ecosystems on purely political grounds?
Have they spoken to experts in the field, such as scientist Dr Les Hall, who has studied the native creatures for more than 40 years? Though he lives just up the range, in Maleny, it would seem not.
So, at the risk of getting bogged down in details and, heaven forbid, facts, I thought I’d start with Dr Hall and ascertain how a scientist might judge the culling call.
``People don’t get Hendra from flying foxes, and as far as I’m aware, horses don’t get it from them either,’’ Dr Hall says.
``This is contrary to what you’ll see written and put in the literature, but I have not seen a proper peer-reviewed paper that’s shown how to transfer the virus from a flying fox to a horse. They’ve tried for 15 years to do it, and they haven’t been able to.
``There’s Hendra in flying foxes, so that’s a good starting point, but good science says you start where the problem is and work backwards. They’ve got it around the wrong way.’‘
Dr Hall points out that Hendra outbreaks occur largely in well-cared-for thoroughbred horses that are kept in stables and on supplementary feed ``not the Netty out in the paddock under the flying foxes all night’‘.
``When there’s an outbreak here, like this latest one at Tewantin, do they check pussycats or rats or any other creatures?’’ he asks rhetorically. ``Sure, there are flying foxes around that part of the world, but what other animals did they check that are near the stables?’’
Dr Hall says that because horses have shown different symptoms, there may be different routes for the virus.
``Once it was a respiratory problem, now it’s a nervous problem. This may reflect whether it’s a tick or a mosquito carrying it. We’ve got to go back to the horse and see if it will lead to a flying fox or somewhere else.’‘
The senior author of Flying Foxes and Fruit Blossom Bats of Australia says it may be as simple as a tick that’s fed on a flying fox, which has then been dropped and found its way on to a horse.
``If they continue to blame the flying fox, I doubt they’ll ever solve the problem,’’ he says.
And here’s a scientifically sound challenge for the gung-ho MPs calling for the culling: ``Instead of calling for a cull, they should be calling for money to help fund some research into flying foxes.
``If you’ve got to kill an animal because you can’t handle what it’s doing to your crop or whatever, it means you’ve been outsmarted by them.’’

How do we as Australians condone what happened at Belconnen ACT

It is too late now to save these kangaroos. It is not too late to save others. Please do what you can. View for yourself the images of the slaughter and make your own decision.

The Belconnen kangaroo kill went ahead 18th May 2008, and finished on the 2nd June.

"The Greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way it treats its animals" - M. Ghandi

Reality of wildlife caring

We have created a new page to show the reality of wildlife caring, it is not all nice and cuddly, it can also be pain and heartache, most injuries are as result of injuries sustained due to a variety of factors that confront the animals living in the modern Australian landscape.

From road injuries to domestic animal attacks, the Australian native animals are having a hard time out there, hopefully some of these images will show you what we as carers see all the time. Please be advised that some of these images are disturbing and if you are not comfortable with graphic images we suggest you read some of the other stories throughout the site. PAGE LINK HERE

ANIWARMER now available through Wildlife Mountain

UNKNOWN FACES

By Frederick Ulyatt

Visits from released animals

Visits from released animals can be a wonderful experience, this female Red Neck wallaby came for a visit on our property last week. As you may be able to see her pouch is full, and it will not be long before a joey will stick it's head out of the pouch for a look at the world.

Her joey at foot was with her, seen here behind a log, inquisitive, wondering why they had ventured close to human contact.