Thousands of bats killed by hot weather in Queensland

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/06/thousands-of-bats-killed-by-hot-weather-in-queensland

Helen Davidson
Monday 6 January 2014

Thousands of bats have died across Queensland after extremely hot weather at the weekend.

On Saturday Dayboro resident Murray Paas found hundreds of dead flying foxes on the ground of his 1.5-hectare property. He filmed the sight and uploaded it to YouTube, describing it as “massive carnage” from the extreme temperatures, which rose above 43C in Brisbane on Saturday.

Paas told Guardian Australia that he estimated more than 1,000 bats had died in the heat on his property alone.

“[The bats] usually only hang out in the tops of the trees but throughout the day they were getting lower and lower … trying to get as much shelter as they could from the sun,” he said.

However, by the end of the day many of the 10,000-strong colony had perished, falling to the ground or hanging dead from branches.

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The number of flying fox deaths is “unprecedented”, a spokesman for the Moreton Bay regional council told Guardian Australia.

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Independent animal carers and researchers have been to the Dayboro property to take orphaned bats away.

An estimated 3,000 bats also died in Ipswich and Redbank.

Gavin Miles from rescue service Bats QLD spoke to Guardian Australia from Woodford, where he was helping in the aftermath of thousands of deaths, also blamed on the heat. The colony of bats in the area ranges from 5,000 to 20,000. Miles estimated his team had rescued about 250 animals.

“There are still bodies everywhere and probably a couple of thousand dead animals,” said Miles, adding he’d not seen anything like it in the eight years he’d worked as a rescuer. He said Woodford residents had told him it reached 48C at the weekend.

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