Things heat up for bats in Australia

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 7th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big brown bats that used the outside of her former home for a winter roost. Her family cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years.

A photo of flying foxes that gied during a heat wave in Australia
An extreme heat wave caused adult flying foxes to fall from roost trees in Casino Australia. Photos courtesy Mail Online Australia

Hi Everyone! I don’t know if you remember the heat wave that Australia had last year, but it looks like it’s happening again. I read a sad article about it. Apparently, temperatures there went over 110 degrees on Nov. 18. Up to 5,000 bats dropped dead from their tree perches. About 450 orphan bat pups were found and are being taken care of by the Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES). The pups are between 2 and 4 weeks old and were still nursing when their mothers died from the heat. That’s a lot of baby bats to take care of! I hope temperatures there cool off soon.

One of the rescued pups. Hundreds of pups were rescued and taken to bat carers.
One of the rescued pups. Hundreds of pups were rescued and taken to bat carers.

If you want to read more about this sad topic visit this article.

2 Replies to “Things heat up for bats in Australia”

Rachael

I know! I hope they’re ok now.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Copyright © 2021 Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia. All rights reserved.