Did you know?

• Flying-foxes (also called fruit bats) are essential for our Australian forest health – through distance pollination and seed dispersal they are true forest makers. While we sleep, flying-foxes literally make forests!
• Flying-foxes can live up to 25 years, weight up to 1kg, have a 1.2m wingspan and fly at 25km/hr.
• Bats are the only mammals capable of sustained flight.
• There are over 1000 species of bats worldwide and 90 of these are native to Australia.
• Microbats (the smaller species of bats) are economically important for elliminating agircultural pests, while megabats’ role is in pollinating commercial plants such as bananas, dates, figs, mangoes, jackfruit, durian, cashews and more.
• Some microbats can eat their own body weight in pest insects per night. They eat flying termites, cockroaches, lawn grub moths, disease-carrying mosquitoes and midges.
• Without microbats, our use of farming chemicals increases, which affects our health and economy, which also affects whole ecosystems.
• Bats worldwide and in Australia are in decline, mostly due to food and home habitat loss and poor understanding of their vital role in the environment.
• Bats are placental mammals and have a long gestation period compared to other animals of comparable size. Flying-foxes rarely give birth to more than one young.
• Vampire bats are only found in Central and South America and weight only 35 grams. Anticoagulant from their saliva may soon be used to treat human heart conditions.
• All bats are protected by law, but their survival is not assured. Please help to protect and preserve them.

If you find an injured or sick flying fox or any bat, please contact the Bat Rescue Hotline urgently on 0488 228 134 and for more info please visit www.bats.org.au