East Kempsey residents are being encouraged to collaborate with the council by offering feedback on their experiences and the impacts of flying foxes in the area.
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Council has released an online survey to help with the development of a management plan for the flying fox camp at Rudder Park.
The plan will be developed by Council in conjunction with specialist ecological consultants, Ecosure.
Council has received $15,000 under the Local Government NSW Flying Fox Grant Program to help manage flying foxes in Kempsey.
Council’s Environmental Strategies Officer Bill Larkin acknowledged that flying foxes can be a problem for some residents, especially in East Kempsey.
“We are keen to work with the affected property owners to find a solution,” Mr Larkin said.
“We have been in close discussions with Ecosure consultants who have been out to the camp and assessed the area to provide us with their recommendations.”
Mr Larkin urged residents of East Kempsey and surrounds to take the opportunity to complete the short but important survey.
“The survey has been designed so we can accurately capture local residents concerns and needs while protecting this unique and critical species,” he said.
Council will engage with nearby residents to inform them about the survey and the development of the management plan.
The survey is open now until Friday, May 12, and is accessible at http://yoursay.macleay.nsw.gov.au/flying_fox.
There are several dozen species of flying foxes, three of which are native to NSW.
They are the Grey-headed flying fox, Black flying fox, and the Little Red flying fox.
Flying foxes are important pollinators, in particular, Australia’s eucalyptus trees rely heavily on them to reproduce.
Most flying fox varieties are vegetarians and mainly eat fruit.
Unlike bats, flying foxes can’t echolocate, instead they use a combination of keen eyesight and sharp sense of smell to locate their meals.
Flying foxes mate upside down and mothers carry their young while airborne.
In the scorching Australian heat, flying foxes use their wings like fans to cool themselves.
The largest flying foxes can grow to have wingspans of up to 5.25 feet.
Colonies can contain up to 200,000 mammals.
