Help us to save the endangered Spectacled Flying-Fox
Help us save the endangered Spectacled Flying Fox, an essential pollinator and seed disperser for the wet tropics! We are volunteers working with locals legislators to protect them.
Care, Conserve and Community
What do we do?
We work with bat carers, conservation groups and governments and engage with the community to conserve the Spectacled Flying-fox and enable people to live peacefully with all bats.
Founding member of the Spectacled Flying Fox Recovery Team
The Spectacled flying-fox is listed as Endangered internationally on the IUCN Red List, nationally under the EPBC Act and under Queensland’s threatened species legislation. The Australian population has fallen by over 80% since 2004. As a member of the recovery team, we nominated to uplist the SFF to critically endangered and are preparing a new recovery plan with specific actions and funding to recover the population. We are currently mapping flying-fox camps. You can help the recovery team find out more about the spectacled flying-fox and its habitat needs by telling us where you see flying-foxes.
We work with local rescue groups, other recovery teams
Each year more than one hundred flying-foxes enter care either as orphaned pups or as injured adults and may be in care for up to six months. Feeding and medications are expensive. We advocate for bat carers and assist them financially through donations we receive. Help us help bats by donating, planting a tree and/or by reporting where you see flying-foxes to our Save Our Flying-foxes Watch program
Community and school education
We engage with the community to raise public awareness through community events and school talks. We also have citizen science projects that you can participate in. Join our Flying-fox Watch and habitat restoration project or borrow a detector and discover your local bats. You can do this as an individual or organisation or even a school. To book a talk for your community group or school or join our citizen science projects contact our secretary using our Contact Form.
Fund raise to support bat carers and provide food for orphan pups and bats in rehabilitation
There are numerous costs involved in rescuing, caring for and rehabilitating bats and flying foxes. These include but are not limited to: vaccinations for bat rescuers and carers, rescue materials and equipment but one of our greatest expenses, most often born by the carers themselves, is the cost of food and nutrient supplements for the bats whilst in care and undergoing rehabilitation prior to re-release back into the wild. Watch this space as we develop our sales page and in the meantime - donate directly to BatSoc or through Patreon. Short on cash- you can help us raise money in two ways: 1. If you are in Queensland, you can drop your 10cents refund containers into a ContainersForChange depot and select to give to a scheme and enter Bats and Trees Society of Cairns scheme ID: C10663841 2. by voting for Bats and Trees Society on MyGivingCircle. Simple vote for us each week and help us get to the Top Ten for the round. At the end of each fundraising round, this organisation will give money to the organisations with the most votes. You can also donate, and the donations come directly to BatSoc to help us feed bats in care. Copy this link into your server: https://mygivingcircle.org/bats-and-trees-society-of-cairns/free
Help us save the endangered Spectacled Flying Fox!
Join us on Patreon
We are still setting up our Patreon. This will give Patreon subscribers access to exclusive content. If you would like to help us manage this please let us know. In the meantime, we need to raise awareness. Why not join BatSoc as a member https://forms.gle/QKUyjaT7jKsWnLto6 or as a volunteer? Send us a message. And follow us on FaceBook and Instagram.
Frequently asked questions
Learn about Flying Fox
Get the facts on bats
Our Team
An energetic group of diverse volunteers, passionate about saving the flying foxes population and all bats of Far North Queensland!
Hilary Whitehouse
Vice President, Wise Bat
Associate Professor Hilary Whitehouse is an expert in climate change and sustainability education. She began direct involvement with flying-foxes during the heat stress event of 2018, where 23,000 flying-foxes died.
Sera Steves
Secretary, Secretary Bat
Sera grew up with bat conservation in USA and brought this experience to Australia. She is an ecologist and ethologist with experience in delivering wildlife presentations and chairs the Spectacled Flying-fox Recovery Team.
Brynn Mathews
Treasurer
Brynn has an extensive background in conservation advocacy< He has been involved in saving the SFF over many years and brings legal expertise and local knowledge to the team.
Rebecca Koller
Flying-fox Coordinator
Rebecca is a wildlife artist and the key flying-fox carer in the Cairns region, managing rehabilitation and release of orphaned and injured flying-foxes. She works closely with the bat hospitals and wildlife care groups mentoring and training new carers.
Gaby Schierenbeck
BatSoc committee member
Gaby has been involved in flying-fox rescue for over ten years and has the keenest eyes and ears for orphaned flying-foxes needing care.
Kathleen Ager
Newsletter editor
Kathleen is a professional woman who has been involved in caring for the environment and our beautiful bats for some time. She recently joined our team and has taken on management of our newsletter.
Moira Stephens
Membership Secretary
Dr Moira Stephens, having spent a professional career in healthcare, research and higher education, is passionate about the relationship between health and environment and has a developing interest in the endangered Spectacled Flying Fox population in FNQ. Moira joined our committee as membership secretary in 2022. She has also recently become a bat rescuer.