\u201cThey are just astonishing animals,\u201d he says. \u201cThe loveliness of flying foxes, their sheer beauty, astonishing biology, the amazing anatomy \u2013 it never ceases to amaze me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet misinformation about the animals is rife, from well-meaning parents telling children they use sound waves to navigate (they don\u2019t), to more sinister notions including that the animals are \u201cpests\u201d that \u201cdon\u2019t belong here\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey came of their own volition,\u201d Boardman says. Grey-headed flying foxes first arrived in Adelaide in 2010, establishing a permanent camp on First Creek, in parklands just north of the CBD, where they have increased in number from 1,000 to about 50,000 today.<\/p>\n
Flying foxes are nomadic, capable of travelling up to 50km at night in search of food resources such as flowering gums, figs and fruit trees.<\/p>\n
Tim Pearson, a wildlife ecologist who specialises in flying fox behaviour and communication, says the \u201cdouble whammy\u201d of destroying native forests while providing alternative food sources in farms and residential areas creates the potential for human-bat conflict and harassment, identified as a threat in recovery plans for endangered spectacled flying foxes and vulnerable grey-headed flying foxes.<\/p>\n Populations of both species have declined in recent decades, although assessing their current status has become more challenging since the national flying fox monitoring program concluded in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Australian attitude towards wildlife has always been positive, providing it doesn\u2019t inconvenience you,\u201d Pearson says. Unfortunately for flying foxes, in their case it often does.<\/p>\n Things have been getting better, Pearson says, but flare-ups still occur when practical concerns \u2013 about noise, the animals\u2019 impact on fruit growers, power outages or potential disease threats \u2013 are reported in breathless terms by the media.<\/p>\n Efforts to disperse the bats are generally counterproductive and attempts to promote empathy and coexistence have not worked. Scientists now think \u201cnormalising\u201d flying foxes might be a way forward, depicting them as a natural part of Australian wildlife in art, photography, books, community events and education. Despite their often visible and audible presence in cities and towns, representations of flying foxes in mainstream media and popular culture remain scarce and largely negative, according to the paper published in Australian Zoologist.<\/p>\n Pearson, a co-author of the paper, works with tame education flying foxes at a wildlife park. Once people see these cute, furry animals up close, they realise they are \u201ccurious, gentle, intelligent\u201d with individual personalities, he says.<\/p>\n Doug Gimesy, a wildlife and conservation photojournalist, says bats \u2013 flying foxes and microbats \u2013 make up nearly 20% of all mammals, but \u201cdon\u2019t get 20% of the air time\u201d.<\/p>\n I just love the aesthetics of them, and that they fly and sleep and do everything upside down \u201cAs a group, they\u2019re often ignored, under-appreciated and misunderstood,\u201d he says. \u201cAt worst they\u2019re vilified and face a constant battle of disinformation, hate speech and are even persecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n Gimesy began photographing flying foxes in 2016 and has since spent more than 160 days in the field, taking thousands of images that document every aspect of their lives.<\/p>\n \u201cI became obsessed with trying to take the perfect photo of them that would show them in all their glory and all their beauty,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Through his award-winning photographs and children\u2019s book, Life Upside Down, Gimesy is hoping to show people how magnificent the animals are, \u201cto get people to engage and ask questions and understand\u201d.<\/p>\n Two images have been important to capture and share, he says. In one, a flying fox pokes its pink tongue into a eucalyptus blossom \u2013 because people don\u2019t realise what important pollinators they are, he says.<\/p>\n In the other, a pup clings to its mum as it breastfeeds in mid-flight, which usually triggers an emotional response. It\u2019s the realisation \u201cthey carry their young in flight, and they\u2019re flying mammals\u201d.<\/p>\n The paper says shifting attitudes towards species such as sharks and crocodiles, once subject to widespread persecution, offer optimism that contentious issues between flying foxes and people can be managed without maligning them as a species.<\/p>\n In Fisher reserve, in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Fitzroy, children play on the green grass as an oversized flying fox takes wing with a magpie, a squirrel glider and pink paper planes against a purple sky.<\/p>\n The colourful mural, by Alex Sugar, is one of several depicting flying foxes alongside other Australian wildlife and quirky elements.<\/p>\n Sugar is fond of the bats, and they became a recurrent feature in his work after their nightly flyout over the Yarra River drew his attention. \u201cWe need to highlight them more in everyday culture and the issues that they\u2019re going through as well with their current habitat,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n As an artist he enjoys capturing their features, their huge, glistening eyes and leathery, angular wings.<\/p>\n \u201cI just love the aesthetics of them, and that they fly and sleep and do everything upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAlex Sugar<\/p><\/blockquote>\n