The porridge is much too hot
7 years ago the population of Australian spectacled flying foxes experienced a climate holocaust.
Over two days in November, record-breaking heat in Australia's north wiped out almost one-third of the nation's spectacled flying foxes, according to researchers.
The animals, also known as spectacled fruit bats, were unable to survive in temperatures which exceeded 42C.
In the city of Cairns, locals saw bats toppling from trees into backyards, swimming pools and other locations.
Wildlife rescuers found surviving animals clumped together, usually on branches closer to the ground.
"It was totally depressing," one rescuer, David White, told the BBC.
Between 33,000 and 40,000 of the bats perished in the heat. Our impact on the climate is killing them off.
In the last two decades tens of thousands of Australian flying foxes have died during extreme heat events.[1] Flying fox die-offs feature arguably among the most dramatic mass mortality events witnessed in nature, but they can be indicators of heat stress in more cryptic fauna where impacts are more difficult to assess. The die-offs are important additional threats to Australian flying-foxes and the ecosystem services they provide, and highlight the complex implications of climate change for behaviour, demography, and species survival.
These bats are endangered.
The spectacled flying fox (Pteropus conspicillatus), also known as the spectacled fruit bat, is a megabat that lives in Australia's north-eastern regions of Queensland. It is also found in New Guinea and on the offshore islands including Woodlark Island, Alcester Island, Kiriwina, and Halmahera.
The spectacled flying fox was listed as a threatened species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. They were considered vulnerable due to a significant decline in numbers as a result of loss of their prime feeding habitat and secluded camp sites. It has also been reported that spectacled flying foxes skim over the surface of water to drink and are sometimes eaten by crocodiles.[3] The species was classified as endangered by the IUCN in 2020.[1]
Unfortunately the U.S. does not have a monopoly on stupidity.
Some experts worry that public antipathy to bats may hinder conservation efforts. This is usually related to fears about contracting diseases from bats, and their noise in urban areas.
"They're seen as these rats in the sky, so any preservation effort is hard going," Dr Westcott says.
"You can bet there were some people glad to see so many bats go down in the heatwave."
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