No fewer than 200,000 flying foxes, the world’s largest bats, have
overrun the Charters Towers’ residents since Friday, the mayor of the
town told dpa on Monday.
A resident Elizabeth Schmidt said: “It’s an absolute disaster – what we have is a nightmare.
“We have had flying fox problems but never in such huge numbers.”
The local council has already shut down two public parks, a swimming pool run by the council and other public spaces.
Frustrated residents took to the streets over the weekend in a march against the town’s council, saying the problem had reached “a tipping point” and calling for action over the “plague of terror.”
The former gold mining town has housed a massive bat colony because of the region’s abundance of native flowering eucalypts, but residents said they are now being held hostage.
Snow Hearne, a local resident for the past seven years, said bats have been a nuisance, but things have escalated “to an extent where nobody can go outside their houses.”
“The stench is horrific and the screeching sound, especially in the evening, because it is mating season, is unbearable,” she told dpa.
“We can’t even go out to our backyards. We are held hostage.
“Everything in the park is covered in flying fox faeces and you worry about getting urinated on,” Kim Gott, another resident, said.
“It’s affected the town pool – we can’t take kids swimming anywhere. People just don’t go outside because the bats fly everywhere.”
Flying foxes are crucial for the keeping native forests healthy and play an important role in pollinating plants and flowers as well as dispersing seeds over distances.
The animals also can host the Hendra and Lyssa viruses, which can be fatal to humans.
Mayor Schmidt said many people have complained about health-related issues, but not “any serious health risk as of yet.”
pnp.
A resident Elizabeth Schmidt said: “It’s an absolute disaster – what we have is a nightmare.
“We have had flying fox problems but never in such huge numbers.”
The local council has already shut down two public parks, a swimming pool run by the council and other public spaces.
Frustrated residents took to the streets over the weekend in a march against the town’s council, saying the problem had reached “a tipping point” and calling for action over the “plague of terror.”
The former gold mining town has housed a massive bat colony because of the region’s abundance of native flowering eucalypts, but residents said they are now being held hostage.
Snow Hearne, a local resident for the past seven years, said bats have been a nuisance, but things have escalated “to an extent where nobody can go outside their houses.”
“The stench is horrific and the screeching sound, especially in the evening, because it is mating season, is unbearable,” she told dpa.
“We can’t even go out to our backyards. We are held hostage.
“Everything in the park is covered in flying fox faeces and you worry about getting urinated on,” Kim Gott, another resident, said.
“It’s affected the town pool – we can’t take kids swimming anywhere. People just don’t go outside because the bats fly everywhere.”
Flying foxes are crucial for the keeping native forests healthy and play an important role in pollinating plants and flowers as well as dispersing seeds over distances.
The animals also can host the Hendra and Lyssa viruses, which can be fatal to humans.
Mayor Schmidt said many people have complained about health-related issues, but not “any serious health risk as of yet.”
pnp.
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