Wednesday, 7 February 2024

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (17:33): (677) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment, and the action I seek is for him to meet with bat rescuers in my electorate. As it does all native animals, this government also hates bats, but over the break I was fortunate enough to spend some time with the extraordinary flying foxes in care at Faraday church wildlife sanctuary. Their carer Sam explained that once Chitty, Bang Bang, Patsy and Eddie are released, they will go on to strengthen the colonies of what is Australia’s only nocturnal long-distance pollinator. In fact, bats are capable of dispersing seeds over 60 kilometres in a single night. This hard work creates brand new forests of the very fruit that they eat, which can be over 50 species of native trees and vines. As flying foxes bury their heads in flowering plants in search of nectar, pollen gets caught in their fur and is spread over long distances, fertilising countless plants and trees. Entire ecosystems rely on the survival of the inquisitive sky puppy, and yet we have destroyed their native habitat, decimating eucalypts, their main food source. Without proper nutrition, female bats cannot lactate. As a result, there are unprecedented numbers of juvenile flying foxes in Victoria and only a handful of vaccinated and registered carers who can help them, and it is not the only issue facing our bats.

Grey-headed flying foxes have been listed as a threatened species for over two decades in Victoria, and as they continue to starve, they are moving into urban areas in search of fruit. Despite the Animal Justice Party strengthening laws to abolish dangerous backyard fruit netting, rescuers are reporting a massive spike in entanglements. A recent call-out found rescuers attending to 100 adult entanglements at a single property. These netting injuries are as horrific as they are avoidable. Through lack of education and enforcement wildlife rescuers are forced to submit individual cases to Crime Stoppers with unclear outcomes. They are single-handedly bearing the expense of this illegal netting still being used. And with more rescues come more releases.

All 400 of the hand-reared pups currently in care must undertake a period of soft release for successful integration into the wild. Currently the situation for soft release in Victoria is limited because it must occur at an existing and established flying fox camp. The fernery at Rosalind Park in Bendigo has been identified by rescuers as a potential new site for soft release as it is generally closed to the public. With support from the government, it could provide an alternative aviary environment to help manage the overflow of pups being released back to the wild from now until May. Few animals are as misunderstood as bats, but their importance cannot be overstated, and I hope the minister will meet with the wonderful volunteers who are dedicated to their plight.