Council Delays Flying Foxes Deterrent Activities

At last week's monthly Ordinary Council Meeting in Bowen, the Council deferred a decision on flying fox deterrent activities to a future meeting this calendar year pending further information on the Roost Management Plan and the Flying Fox Management Strategy both currently being developed.
Council wants to balance the need to protect flying foxes as a threatened species while reducing their impact on residents so we can all live together in our Whitsundays.
Council’s 2017 Flying Fox Management Plan and Collinsville Roost Plan are being updated to include current regulations, the latest in best practice management of flying fox roost data and possible subsidy options for residents directly impacted by Flying Fox roosts.
They will also take into consideration the impacts our community shared through the Help Shape Flying Fox Management in the Whitsundays consultation survey in June/July this year and how the updated management plan can guide us into the future.
Once completed in late October the updated management and roost plans will be presented back to Councillors so they can make an informed decision that would provide guidance to staff, contractors, and private landholders on the management of flying-foxes.
Little red flying-foxes that seasonally migrate to the Whitsunday region have returned and information from neighbouring Council’s also indicates that the breeding season has already commenced which means deterrent activities cannot be undertaken until March.
Little red flying-foxes typically arrive in the region from spring through to late summer.  Influxes can occur at any location within the region during this period. An area consistently impacted is in Collinsville. Roosts of little red flying-foxes can form overnight, often leaving as quickly as they arrive.

Council meeting to which they decided to defer flying fox deterrent activities. Photo credit: Ruth Puddefoot
Influx of Flying foxes in the region

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