CAIRNS CBD SPECTACLED FLYING FOX COLONY IN DESPERATE SITUATION: Ive been finding it very difficult to do this posting as its happening just up the street, only 50 metres away, and its absolutely heart-rending. Over the last three weeks over 70 dead, or near dead, baby spectacled flying foxes have been collected around the Cairns Library /Oasis Resort roost area (see map below). Initially they were all premature, still born and usually with significant birth defects, including cleft palates, missing claws, toes, twisted limbs, still with placentas attached etc. Any not already dead had to be euthanised as they had no chance of survival. Now there are 5 day old babies being picked up dead that their mothers have dropped (see photo) for no apparent reason. One recognised cause of premature births, defects and stillborns is stress on the colony in the first trimester of pregnancy, which happens to coincide with Cairns Regional Councils brutal pruning of the colonys roost trees. This trimming was approved by both State and Federal governments who both now want to apparently ignore the consequences of their decisions. And the Novotel Oasis Resort still has EPBC Act approval to completely remove eleven (11) colony roost trees commencing in May 2015. On top of this assault on one colony the populations found in other camps throughout the region have been less than 10% of the expected numbers (CSIRO monitoring work). Maybe theyve all gone bush for less harassment and a better feed, but if they dont come back in December we may be observing a major population crash of a keystone species with a key role as a seed disperser and pollinator for the World Heritage Wet Tropics. I fear that we may be observing something comparable with the first occurrences of the facial cancer that threatened to wipe out the Tassie Devil and no government agency is treating it with the urgency or seriousness it deserves. So if you are half as upset and outraged by this situation as I am please take it up with Ministers Powell and Kemp and your local MPs (State and Federal) and Senators. Lets do what we can to prevent another threatened species from becoming an extinct species.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 05:31:38 +0000
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