Help Baby Bats Take Flight!

What a season! We've all heaved a huge sigh of relief here in Sydney, Summer wasn't as harsh here this year for our flying-foxes as it was in other parts of the country- a small blessing for most Sydney bats, but then the weather hasn't been as kind to other camps.

We did have a fair few heat stress events occur along the East Coast however, with our Parramatta, Emu Plains and Campbelltown camps being effected the most- we had 62 pups into care in Sydney Wildlife from those areas- way more than we'd like, but much less than camps up in Queensland, those poor animals.

All up this season, we've had 122 pups come through Kukundi facillity, 27 were released a couple weeks ago, with another 40 ready to be released this weekend; the pups are transfered from our flight aviary to a secret location in Ku-Ring-Gai National Park, the release aviary has a big hatch on one side that is opened to allow the juveniles to come out into the bush and to fly out when they're ready. We supplement feed them, in case they're a bit shy at first, but eventually they find the sky on their own! The next lot of pups will be ready to be moved from Kukundi into the flight aviary soon.

It isn't just pups we have at kukundi, however! We also have a large aviary where adults are kept for the last bit of their rehabilitation before release; we've had a monstrous netting season this year, unfortunately, and it's not just the juveniles that get themselves into trouble.

If you have fruit trees in your yard, you should definitely make sure you're using wildlife friendly netting to protect your crops, as well as your local wildlife! Here is a fantastic site with some great recommendations for what to look for in picking out some safe wildlife friendly netting.

I want to thank all our amazing supporters for everything they have done to help the pups this season! We're 100% run by busy volunteer bat slaves, and there's no way we could do it without YOU! Your generousity is integral to caring for and eventually releasing this pivotal keystone species back into the wild where they belong!

THANK YOU!! And best wishes for the new year!!

Georgina

PS. I'm attaching some adorable pictures taken by Fiona, one of our Bat Slave Managers at Kukundi. Enjoy!