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![]() ![]() In order to better predict these movements, we first need know what they're feeding on, where and when. ![]() A large part of this relates to how flying-foxes move in and out of urban areas in response to changes in the availability of food across the entire landscape. We are trying to understand how we can better manage flying-foxes and their habitat so populations can persist and co-exist with humans. Credit: Pia Lentini, University of Melbourn Why are we collecting this data? Flying foxes use a very broad range of vegetation types: rainforests, forests, woodlands, swamps, mangroves, thickets, orchards and farmland, and even botanical gardens, and are often found close to water. Where their distributions overlap, it is not uncommon for the species to roost together to form mixed camps. They are amongst the most mobile mammals on earth and can track changes in their preferred foods across much of Australia's north and east - where they are very important for pollination and seed dispersal in forests.įour species that occur on Australia's mainland are the focus of this app: the Grey-headed, Black, Little red and Spectacled flying-fox. ![]() You can record sightings of flying foxes, view all of your previous records, and see a map of where other citizen scientists have recorded flying foxes in your area.įlying-foxes are large bats that feed at night on nectar, pollen and fruit, and roost by day in colonies in the thousands. The CAUL Urban Wildlife app lets you help to monitor native wildlife in Australian cities. This means we need to carefully balance the conservation of these ecologically important species with the needs and concerns of the community. However, flying-fox populations have also experienced declines since European colonisation due to habitat destruction and persecution, and the Grey-headed and Spectacled flying-fox are listed nationally as threatened species. More information about these aspects of their biology will help us understand why they move in and out of cities.įlying foxes in urban areas causes community concern because roosting flying-foxes are noisy, smelly, can damage vegetation and property, and are often perceived as carriers of diseases. However, we don’t know enough about how flying foxes are using the urban environment and the types of plants they like to feed on across the entire year. Flying-fox roosts are becoming increasingly urban, which may be because these areas provide good feeding opportunities and/or because they are losing habitat elsewhere. ![]()
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