00:00 Shoalhaven Wildlife carer Janine Davies thinks the flying foxes in her care are pretty special,
00:07 but she knows that to the general public there's a bit of an image problem.
00:11 I think Hollywood's had a lot to do with it, with vampires, horror movies, they're going
00:16 to suck your blood and all this and they're depicted as being dirty, filthy creatures.
00:23 That is so far from the truth.
00:26 Highly intelligent with around 32 different communication sounds, they're also the only
00:31 long distance pollinators for our native forests, according to ecologist Dr Karen Parry-Jones.
00:38 I've seen them in flowering eucalyptus and they look like big furry bumblebees all covered
00:45 in pollen.
00:46 They are important whether you like them or not. I don't expect people to love them, but
00:52 the hatred that is thrown at them is just not on.
00:56 Their numbers are declining and this summer they're facing a major threat. A starvation
01:01 event on the east coast is leaving hundreds of pups abandoned or orphaned at the mercy
01:06 of volunteers. Janine has 11 pups and 14 adults at home in Bomaderry. Dr Parry-Jones has nine
01:13 on the central coast.
01:16 Being a volunteer can be time consuming and expensive. Apart from committing 14 weeks
01:21 to care for the orphans, they also have to cover the costs of their own vaccinations
01:26 against the Australian bat lissa virus, as well as food, milk and electricity for the
01:31 animals.
01:32 Both women spend hours every day laundering dozens of wraps, feeding and bonding. Finding
01:38 volunteers is getting harder and the existing ones are stretched to breaking points.
01:44 One group was even, had to, well they had to make a really hard decision and had to
01:50 put them down because they had no carers to pass them on to.
01:54 It's a species that's listed as vulnerable to extinction and I have a problem with that.
02:00 They want volunteering incentivised to help save the species. For now, these pups at least
02:06 are in good hands.
02:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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