Documentation Australian Flying Foxes / Fruit bats

This video was produced in October 2009 in Brisbane, Australia. Flying foxes are the real forest makers of Australia because they are the major pollinators and seed dispersers! Without flying foxes Australian forests would look very different. They are very smart and social animals, worth to be protected!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Documentation
• Australian
• Flying
• Foxes
• Fruit
• bats
• Australia
• Wildlife
• wild
• animals

[BlueRoseThorn100]

I love flying foxes, bats are quite misunderstood in general and it makes me happy to see that you are helping to educate people about them through this video.

I haven't looked at your channel or your other videos yet, but in this video I did find it a little hard to hear all that you were saying-- but I still found it to be an enjoyable video :)

[Marenlene]

@BlueRoseThorn100 Thanks :-) Yes, unfortunately many people don't know about the important role of flying foxes in our ecosystems and only believe in weird rumours 'they get entangled in our hair'...

good news: my english has much improved since I did this video *g*

[EASTSIDEGANSTA1]

bats are from caves

[Marenlene]

@EASTSIDEGANSTA1 It is right that many microbats live in caves - but flying foxes roost in trees! They do not have a lot of things in common with microbats, e.g. microbats use ultrasound and flying foxes eyesight, smell and ears / microbats eat insects and flying foxes fruit, pollen/nectar.

[val2005horse]

It's sad that these bats are spreading the deadly Hendra Virus in Brisbane killing horses and vets

[Marenlene]

@val2005horse That said, without flying foxes there wouldn't be an Australian bush - Flying foxes are the major pollinators and seed dispersers in Australia. Numerous plants / trees depend on them. Do you know that many Australian plants flower nocturnally? Without flying foxes these plants would be wiped out and Australia wouldn't look the same.

[DavidSanchez96]

I love flying foxes. I just wish everyone else love them to.

[EASTSIDEGANSTA1]

@Marenlene oh lol but that is interesting you know where bats and firefoxes came from i think from dracula lol i love your vids hun

[val2005horse]

The government needs to spend more of my tax payer money, especially all the GST I pay on my horse feed to pay for scientists to find a cure. That way the deadly disease carried by these bats in Australia can be stopped. There is evidence it is caused by these bats and I suggest you go to the Queensland Government website to get the information on this disease.

[val2005horse]

Already this year, 10 horses have died and several vets await further testing to see if they have become infected. This is a re-occurring issue each year now. I am not in the racing industry but instead have three beloved horses as pets. My oldest horse is 27 years old and I have had him since he was a six month old foal. My horses are my kids. Horse owners do not want the bats distroyed but rather the government to take serious action on finding a cure for the deadly disease they carry.

[Marenlene]

The Race Horse Industry has a lot of money to spread rumours. Most wildlife carries viruses - but that doesn't give us the right to wipe out a whole species, otherwise we also would have to culli koalas, birds, kangaroos and possums because they have viruses as well.  There also has NEVER been a scientific evidence that flying foxes are the cause of the spread -only that they can have the virus. Makes me sick how very uninformed members of the public believe every bullshit they read somewhere.