Grey-headed flying foxes are being found dead in backyards across the Mid North Coast, due to a suspected mass starvation event.
Others are being discovered alive, often with newborn babies in tow, attempting to eat any fruit they can find.
“People are reporting dead and dying fruit bats low in their gardens, all along the highway, in parks and even shopping centres,” Diamond Beach wildlife carer Kym Kilpatrick told the Mid North Coaster.
“We've got elderly volunteers who are working until 3am, caring for bats and trying to rehydrate them, feed them, and repair damage to their wings.”
What’s happening: Kilpatrick, from wildlife rescue organisation For Australian Wildlife Needing Aid (FAWNA), said the “staggering numbers of casualties” are due to native trees blossoming early due to high winter temperatures.
“The flowering hardwood eucalypts that they normally feed on at this time of year … they flowered too early because we had a warm winter, so now that food source has gone too early.”
The species usually feeds on the nectar and pollen of native trees, in particular eucalyptus, melaleuca and banksia, and the fruits of rainforest trees and vines.
They are now competing with other species - such as birds, moths and gliders - for other nectar-producing plants like grevilleas and bottlebrush.
The history: The habitat of the flying foxes - coastal forests - has been drastically reduced by land clearing over the decades.
Before European settlement it is believed there were several million migrating up and down Australia’s east coast, chasing seasonal blossomings of native trees.
Today, grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) are considered vulnerable by the federal government.
Important player: The species plays a key role as a pollinator.
They can fly up to 50 kilometres a night between food sources, dropping seeds along the way.
“No other species can match their volume and range of pollination and seed dispersal,” Kilpatrick said.
What next: Kilpatrick has warned a heat stress event on top of the mass starvation could cause deaths in the “tens of thousands”.
“We are looking at what could be the end of this species,” she said.
Australia’s weather is currently in an El Niño phase, which often brings drier conditions to eastern parts of the country in spring. It can also increase the risk of extreme temperature shifts, like heatwaves.
Other threats to the species include owls, eagles, goannas, barbed wire and netting.
Human impact: Kilpatrick said the past few weeks have been “exhausting and emotional” for volunteers.
On a single day, she attended properties at Old Bar, Diamond Beach and Nabiac, finding around 15 dead bats and a similar amount searching for food.
Given the non-stop call-outs, Kilpatrick holds “real fears” for the health of elderly volunteers.
“They're not eating properly, they're older people, they're on the roads for really long periods,” she said.
How to help: To provide food for hungry fruit bats, Kilpatrick suggests locals hang chopped up pear, apple, rockmelon or honeydew melon in baskets or on wire in their gardens.
It is important to change the fruit each day, to avoid fruit flies.
To avoid tired fruit-bats being caught in barbed wire, locals can apply tape or “something like tinsel” to make it more easily visible.