Post by jonsdigs on Mar 16, 2008 8:47:16 GMT -5
Bats still hang in there despite many ordeals
Mario Xuereb
The Age (AU)
March 16, 2008
Numbers down: one of Melbourne's flying foxes.
Photo: Rebecca Hallas
MELBOURNE'S bat colony has shrunk to its lowest level in more than a decade on the back of last year's cold winter, but animal activists say local numbers will probably recover.
Flying fox numbers continue to decline across eastern Australia due to habitat loss, but individual colony numbers fluctuate between seasons.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment said Melbourne's grey-headed flying fox colony at Yarra Bend park peaks at around 30,000 animals in summer and can fall to around 8000 in winter when most fly north to escape the cold.
Full Story
Mario Xuereb
The Age (AU)
March 16, 2008
Numbers down: one of Melbourne's flying foxes.
Photo: Rebecca Hallas
MELBOURNE'S bat colony has shrunk to its lowest level in more than a decade on the back of last year's cold winter, but animal activists say local numbers will probably recover.
Flying fox numbers continue to decline across eastern Australia due to habitat loss, but individual colony numbers fluctuate between seasons.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment said Melbourne's grey-headed flying fox colony at Yarra Bend park peaks at around 30,000 animals in summer and can fall to around 8000 in winter when most fly north to escape the cold.
Full Story