Inner-city flying foxes must go

GREENIES might be celebrating a stay of execution for a planned dispersal of flying foxes in the Cairns CBD but the reality is if the colony is not moved soon many will die.

The urban environment and the fig trees in which they roost is not their natural habitat.

Spectacled flying foxes are forest dwellers and rainforests are their preferred habitat.

They prefer to roost in the middle and upper canopy strata in the full sun.

They can be found in rainforests, mangroves and paperbark and eucalypt forests.

The Cairns CBD is a concrete jungle generating a lot of heat from the library and surrounding high-rise buildings, street surfaces and vehicles.

Late last year hundreds died in the CBD during extreme heatwave conditions and it will inevitably happen again.

There are much better environments for the roosts away from the CBD, and the council says it is working with the Federal Department of Environment and Energy to find a safer and more suitable location for the flying foxes.

It acknowledges that the animals are an important part of the natural environment but councillors are concerned that leaving them in the CBD will be harmful.

Heatwaves, urban development and increased construction in proximity to the library roost will continue to stress and adversely affect the flying fox population.

The council wants to move the roost outside the birthing season.

The bats might be special to conservationists and tourists but leaving them in the city centre is almost certainly signing their death warrants. Nick Dalton Deputy editor