21/12/2024
Absolutely heartbreaking 💔
Please read this. It’s so terribly sad how the bats suffer and no support from any government agency such as DES.
We are in the middle of a wildlife crisis, with many hundreds and more than likely thousands of bats and Lorikeets succumbing to Paralysis Syndrome. This is worse than the previous five years, much, much worse. The paralysis is moving faster, animals are dying quicker and in far greater numbers. Something is terribly wrong and we are doing everything we can to help the animals we can help. For the others the best we can do is ensure a quick painless passing to put them out of their misery.
Our carers are finding bats that are paralysed, that have been laying water so long that their skin is literally sloughing off, they are infested internally and externally with maggots, they are eating through the stomach and exiting the cloaca, these animals look at them with absolute terror. Can you imagine the pain, the fear. It’s literally a living nightmare.
And we’ve had enough. We’ve had enough of working day and night to save the animals we can without support from the departments that are there to support wildlife, to protect our flora and fauna. We’ve had enough of continually calling government departments to ask for help to try and find out what is causing this. We’ve had no results from DESI (Department of Environment, Tourism and Science Innovation) nothing from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – even on their special call line to report diseased or sick animals, the Health Department don’t want to know either. THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING! No one cares about what is happening, and dare I say it but if it were Koala’s or Gliders dropping out of trees the response would be immediate and thorough. Not one department even bothered to ask where they could view what was happening or asked for samples etc to research. We want departments to take us seriously, to not write us off and hope that we or the problem will go away. This problem is not going away, it's escalating and we're getting more desperate by the hour.
Grey Headed Flying foxes are listed as a vulnerable species Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and the IUCN Red List. Population estimates indicate a decline of around 30% over the last 10 years. Flying foxes are a keystone species within Australia’s mammal populations and the ecosystems that they affect. THEY ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE ECOSYSTEM and are important dispersers of pollen and seeds of a wide range of Australian native plants across the eastern seaboard. Without them entire ecosystems will collapse. These are not my words; these are words taken from the Australian Parliament and the Australian Museums public information pages.
What do we do? We’re so incredibly thankful for the support that our followers (you guys!) have given, that has encouraged us to continue trying. And we want to say a special thank you to the Logan City Council for their support with placing signs and assisting to remove animals that have passed to help our carers assist the animals we can in a safer way. We want to thank the Ambulance drivers from the RSPCA and Wildcare Kanga Ambulance who have also assisted us to transport animals – this is despite themselves also being under the pump with animals themselves and of course Currumbin Wildlife Hospital who are going above and beyond to try to save or help pass peacefully every animal we can get to them. We need more help, we need financial assistance, and we need the assistance from the departments who’s job it is to assist.
I don't like doing this but I'm going to post another video in the comments, I think that people have a right to see what is happening so they can understand it. The Flying Fox in the video is dead, it was very swiftly sedated and euthanised and cessation of life was confirmed before a video was taken. This always the case, we ensure that the animals welfare is our first priority. Nothing comes before this. You will see in the video the maggot infestation, (like so many others) they had eaten through her stomach and were exciting her cloaca. Imagine her suffering to get to this point, hours, days just laying there being eaten alive and being unable to move. When the carer found her she had just enough energy to turn her head to look into the carers eyes, and in the words of Liz, the absolutely superwoman of a carer that euthanised her "a part of me died with her"...
Feel free to not watch the video, it, like the one I posted yesterday is confronting. We want departments to take us seriously, to not write us off and hope that we will go away. This problem is not going away, it's escalating.
Thank you again for the support you have given us, and I know it feels like everyone is putting their hands out for more money all the time. We abhor asking, but we need it, we really do. If you can help financially, or by sharing our posts, alerting departments, whatever you can do we will be grateful.
Donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible:
PayPal: paypal.me/batsqld
Bank Transfer:
Account Name: Bats QLD
Account Number: 228422
BSB: 034 182
