00:01What we're seeing is that the flying fox populations
00:06are under a huge amount of stress.
00:08This is their most productive time.
00:10This is actually when pups are being born,
00:13and so it's a high-energy time for flying foxes.
00:18But what we're having at the same time is really a lack of nutrition.
00:22So pollens on native plants are running short.
00:27Obviously, fruit, it's not yet the fruiting season.
00:30And so the bats are actually under a lot of stress,
00:32and so their behaviour is quite unusual.
00:35We're seeing bats, for example, hanging around in people's backyards
00:40in low-hanging branches.
00:42In the middle of the day,
00:44when they would normally have retreated to their canopies,
00:47most of their feeding is normally at night.
00:49It's mainly the bat behaviour that has changed.
00:52So bats are suffering.
00:55Obviously, starvation is horrible in any mammal species.
01:00And so bats are behaving quite erratically.
01:02That brings them into much more contact with people.
01:06And we generally find that folks want to help bats.
01:10So a bat languishing on the ground or a bat that's caught itself caught in wiring,
01:15people immediately are drawn to those big eyes and they want to assist.
01:19Now, the important thing is if our attempts at assisting the bats,
01:23if we're not well-skilled or trained, actually often do them a lot of harm.
01:27So it's a really good idea to call people who are well-prepared,
01:32well-equipped, vaccinated, and have the right equipment to actually rescue the bats.
01:37And so we would advise folks to avoid any contact with the flying foxes,
01:42but call WISE or other wildlife services to give them a hand.
01:49So thank you for having a hug.
01:49CH-
01:50You
