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.
Conserve, Community and care
What do we do?
Our purpose is to provide community and informal education to conserve the habitats and lives of the endangered Spectacled Flying Fox and the many other bat species who live in and around the Wet Tropics. We aim to enable all people to live peacefully with our native flying mammals. To achieve our aim we work with local, state, and federal government; with other education, natural resource management, and conservation organisations; with local bat carers, and with the Spectacled Flying Fox Recovery Team.
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 two 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.
fundraise to support bats in care
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.
GET INVOLVED WHERE IT MATTERS
Connect with us and make a real difference to the life of those in need.
GET INVOLVED
Your generosity makes our work possible. Whether you contribute financially or as advocate for good.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CAUSES
Your generosity makes our work possible. Whether you contribute financially or as advocate for good.
Frequently asked questions
No touch, No risk
Remember if you see a bat in trouble, hanging low or on the ground, don’t try to help it yourself. Ring your local bat care group (In FNQ, they are: insert numbers for WCFNQ and FNQWR and Tolga Bat Hospital)) and a vaccinated rescuer will contact you and rescue the bat.
A tiny proportion of bats may carry a potentially deadly disease called lyssavirus, but it is only transmissible by bites or open scratches contaminated by an infected bat’s saliva. If you don’t touch bats, you are safe from disease.
It is perfectly safe to be under bats in a camp or under trees where they are feeding. We do ask you to try not to disturb them though.
If by some mischance, you are bitten or scratched by any bat, wash the wound site with soap and water for five minutes, apply an antiseptic and visit your doctor or local hospital to obtain post exposure vaccination. This vaccination is 100% effective if you receive it before onset of symptoms.
For more information see Australasian Bat Scoiety’s Bat fact: Bats and your health – link to BatFacts tab on ausbats.org.au)
What’s the best thing about Spectacled Flying Foxes?
Spectacled flying-foxes are hardworking fly-in fly-out foresters of the night keeping our world heritage wet tropics rainforest healthy and diverse.
Why are flying-foxes important?
Flying-foxes move pollen and seeds longer distances than any other animal and feed in two or more remnant forests in the one night maintaining genetic biodiversity that helps our forests withstand climate change and other threats
Why is the Spectacle Flying Fox endangered and how can I help?
The Australian population of spectacled flying-foxes declined over 75% between 2004 and 2017. This was followed by a loss of 23.000 individual animals (32% of the remaining population) in a heat wave in November 2018. The main causes are habitat loss through continuing vegetation clearing, climate change and cyclones. Another cyclone or heat stress event could wipe them out.
You can help by planting a tree and letting us know where you see flying-foxes through our Save Our Flying-foxes Watch program.
Where can I see flying foxes?
Flying-foxes use camps like backpackers use hostels- they are always on the move following the food resources but there are camps they use regularly at various times of the year. Most camps are seasonal but some places you can see them in the wild at some time during the year include Daintree River, Anderson Street Conservation Area in Cairns, Tolga Scrub, Port Duglas and Gordonvale. When melaleucas are flowering you can find them on Cairns’ northern beaches. They also visit islands off-shore from Cairns.
The Bat Tourism trail is coming and it will have details of all camps and the most likely time to see them- in the meantime check out the Australasian Bat Night program and Find a Bat Night near You or contact us with your location and we’ll let you know where your nearest flying-foxes are.
You can get close up to a flying-fox at Tolga Bat Hospital (link), BatReach Kuranda (link) or see the newly arrived flying-fox group at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures.
GET INVOLVED
HOW YOU CAN HELP
MAKE A DONATION
Your generosity makes our work possible. Whether you contribute financially or as advocate for good.
Citizen science
Report a bat sighting.
Volunteer
We have lots of ways to help
OUR LATEST ACTIVITY
There is always something happening in the world of bats in Cairns! Come and join us at one of our next events.
Check out what’s happening on the link below
SO FAR in 2026 we have
124
BABY BATS IN CARE
1800kg
KG OF FRUIT DELIVERED
151
RESCUES
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frod design
FrodDesign is an Australian-based creative business that designs and produces innovative, 3D-printed products to support backyard wildlife, particularly frogs. Known for their unique “Frod” frog houses and pool rescue ramps, the company combines design, conservation, and education to help protect native species. FrodDesign is also committed to giving back, donating a portion of its sales to wildlife care organisations and supporting grassroots conservation efforts.