City to cool down flying fox colony

THE City of Greater Geelong will irrigate part of Geelong’s Eastern Park in the near future to reduce heat stress deaths in the area’s grey-headed flying fox colony.

The fruit bats are Australia’s largest bat species and are vital native pollinators and seed dispersers, but can experience dehydration, hyperthermia, and death during major heat events.

The city already has five sensors in trees at Eastern Park to monitor temperature and humidity patterns in the habitat.

Despite there being a significant population of the flying foxes in the park, total population numbers are rapidly declining, making the animals a vulnerable species.

In response, the city will use the sensing equipment alongside a new specially designed irrigating system that cools the environment, based on identified trigger points.

The city is working with local land managers, community groups such as the Friends of Bats and Bushcare, and the East Geelong Golf Club to identify the most suitable locations for the equipment and to ensure the natural behaviour of the flying foxes is not disturbed.

Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan said the City’s work to innovatively deploy smart technologies to help native wildlife was exciting.

“By monitoring environmental conditions and using a data-led cooling strategy, we hope to reduce heat related mortality in the grey-headed flying fox colony and improve understanding of heat stress impacts.

“The project will also serve as a model for other regions that experience heat stress events and are seeking strategies to protect flying fox populations.”

Cr Eddy Kontelj, chair of the city’s Active Spaces portfolio, said this project showcased the municipality as a leader in environmental protection through the use of technology and innovation.

“We are hoping to create tangible change for this vulnerable Grey-headed Flying-fox population, while using the data to inform decisions about environmental sustainability and resilience.

“The city will also develop educational resources to raise awareness about the importance of protecting flying fox colonies and how cooling strategies can reduce heat-related deaths.”

Jarrah Wadsworth, the Geelong branch co-ordinator of the Friends of Bushcare and Bats Inc’s heat event response, said the ecosystem would be drastically different without grey-headed flying foxes.

“During heat events, we do our best to monitor and help vulnerable bats experiencing heat stress when they drop from the trees, however we still lost upwards of 50 during a 2019 heat event which is 50 too many.

“This critical project will be a huge shift in the level of protection and care we can offer this keystone species, as the sprinkler system will proactively prevent deaths and lessen the number of pups becoming orphans.”

The grey headed flying fox sprinkler and monitoring system in Eastern Gardens is supported by the Victorian government, which has provided the Friends of Bushcare and Bats Inc. $100,000 for the project.