Helping the Australian Fruit Bats

By Alyce Beard (April 2011)

‘NO THROUGH ROAD.’ Stupid Google maps! Luckily, with a little perseverance, I get to my destination in the nick of time. 118 Narrowleaf Road has a very long driveway. It even includes a ‘Watch out for animals’ sign and just as well because I come across many of them. The largest ducks I have ever seen crowd the driveway along with a few peacocks and a chicken. As I graciously swerve around them, avoiding the ditch, I make my way up the last 100 metres and park my car beside a goat and a rooster. I wonder if there are actually any fruit bats here or not.

I am here to met the underdog of Australia wildlife which rarely gets appreciated. The Advancetown Clinic is one of the few places that tries to help these cute little animals. The Australian Gray, Black and Red headed fruit bats are in danger of losing their natural habitat because of deforestation and lack of food. They also took a huge hit recently with the January floods which devastated Queensland. The mother bats, normally very nurturing and caring creatures, abandoned their young. The real reason is unknown but Trish Wimberly says it could of been a natural instinct because they knew that danger was coming and that they would be unable to support their pups.

Trish Wimberly and her husband Terry are the owner/operators of the Advancetown Bat Clinic (ABC) and they couldn’t be happier with how they’re spending their precious time and money. They believe they are the voice of the little guys who can’t speak for themselves. In the ten years the clinic has been running they average 1000 rescued animals a year and save up to ten bats a day. Both Trish and Terry have spent countless hours in classrooms around the world with the thirst to increase their knowledge and do the best possible job.  Trish meets me out on the wrap-around veranda in between a cockatoo and a wallaby. She is a small hearty lady with a big bat necklace and gold bat ring. Trish is one of those women Australia needs to help sustain our wildlife.

After quick introductions Trish leads me down to check out her most prized possession, her bats. She leads me off the veranda, down some stone steps, past a peacock and ending up at a cage, around 3 metres by 5 metres and two feet taller than my head. There is a bunch of around fifty bats at the far end, basking in the sun, which Trish says is a favourite thing for them to do. They start walking upside down towards us on the roof of their cage, they look both eager and friendly. A small gray headed bat basically attaches himself to Trish and snuggles into her chest within minutes. As I stroke its soft head more bats hover towards us. She puts the little guy back on the roof and we head down to another cage, with many compartments and many more bats. These ones were rescued from the floods and are now fit and healthy and due to be released within the next week. I stand up on a chair to get a good look at one of the biggest bats, Trish tells me his name is Luna and unlike the rest of the rescued bats he was actually a research Bat which insists on returning to the Clinic every time released.

Back on the veranda Trish talks to me about why these bats are so important to human existence and what issues they are facing. The Australian Fruit bats and flying foxes are extremely important to our ecosystem. They are the sole pollinator of the Eucalyptus tree and without this iconic Australian plant there would also be no Koalas. As the Eucalyptus is the Koalas only food source. Also many of the fruit and vegetables we enjoy in such abundance today would not exist without the help of the Fruit bats. Things such as bananas, peaches, avocados , mango's and dates would disappear. They are also very important to the timber industry. The fruit bats long distance pollination is what produces strong timber so without it the Australia timber industry would not be as reliable.

Trish tells me about her passion for bats and how much she enjoys helping them but wishes they didn’t have to experience these problems. Trish speaks fondly of how bats have been around over 55 million years and therefore have learnt how to adapt. Unfortunately due to Australian tree clearing, which exceeded the Amazon in the 90’s and it is still a steep statistic today, is making it hard for fruit bats to sustain their lives. Trish says that is the reason we are finding Fruit bats in our backyards because they are in desperate need for food. Last year they were even travelling as far as Tasmania and South Australia in an anxious search for food.

I also spoke to the president of Bat Conservation and Rescue QLD Inc and she told me that their 24 hour rescue phone line received over 2000 calls last year. They, along with Trish, are constantly called out to rescue injured fruit bats. Their injuries differ from domestic animals attacks, caught in barbed wire and getting hit by cars. This is because the bats are doing whatever it takes to find food.

As I prepare to leave Trish heads off to spend hours cutting up fruit. The self funded Australian Bat Clinic is thanks to the hard work and dedication Trish and her husband have put in to help the Australian Fruit bat. I see why Trish’s personal mission is ‘I create a world that can change through my passion, wisdom, courage and example.’

If you are interested in helping please donate to the Bat Conservation and Rescue inc on the website www.bats.org.au