Trial sees flying foxes keep cool

FLYING foxes have been given new technology to beat the heat.

An innovative atmospheric cooling system was successfully trialled in Rosalind Park in January, giving researchers hope of preventing the species from dying in Australia’s extreme summers.

The system, jointly funded by WWF Australia, the City of Greater Bendigo and the Department of Land, Water, Environment, and Planning consists of a series of sprinklers in the tree canopy.

The city’s coordinator of heritage gardens and amenity landscapes Orrin Hogan said the flying foxes reacted positively to the system.

“Some flying foxes were a bit startled when the system first activated, but we soon saw individuals moving closer to the sprinklers, stretching out their wings and licking water droplets,” Mr Hogan said.

In the summer of 2020, 220 flying foxes died from heat stress at Rosalind Park, when temperatures reached above 40 degrees.

Hot days and night are flying foxes’ biggest threat, and the species is at risk with climate change exacerbating heat events.

The Rosalind Park trail ran for three days between 23 and 25 January, when the temperature hit up to 41 degrees Celsius.

Data gathered when the cooling system was activated showed that the temperature dropped by up to two degrees in the areas where the sprinklers were on, and more importantly, no flying foxes were seen to die during the hot weather.

With the cooling system successful in Bendigo, it is hoped it can be replicated in other sites to protect flying fox colonies.

Threatened species and climate adaptation ecologist at WWF Australia Dr Kita Ashman said the species is important to the country’s ecosystem.

“Australia has a love-hate relationship with flying foxes, but without them many of our forests and woodlands would not be the same,” Dr Ashman said.

“They help to disperse seeds and pollinate our flowering plants, so we need to think outside the box to protect them from heat events.”

WWF Australia used the results of the trial to raise awareness of the impact of climate change on Australia’s biodiversity.