“Blind as a bat” goes the saying – but that’s a myth. Small bats have perfectly good eyesight for their size, but they can also call upon “extra senses” which humans can only achieve with technology. These…
Dogs are the source of the majority of human rabies deaths around the world.
M. Lehmkuhler/Flickr
The island of Bali has pledged to be free of the rabies by 2020 and has begun culling stray dogs in an effort to control the virus. Rabies was first detected in Bali in November 2008 and has since claimed…
Cattle drovers have won back the right to graze livestock in the Australian Alps - against scientists’ advice.
AAP Image/Bob Richardson
From reef dredging, to shark culling, to opening old-growth forests to logging, environmental policies are leaving Australia’s wildlife exposed to threats. The reason, we propose, is that society and government…
Back after going missing for more than a century: the New Guinea big-eared bat.
Julie Broken-Brow/supplied
More than a century after it was “lost”, the New Guinea big-eared bat has been discovered by Queensland researchers working in Papua New Guinea’s forests. The critically endangered bat was thought to be…
Some threatened species are familiar and well-known; others are obscure. The Lord Howe Long-eared Bat may be the epitome of obscure. Were it not for the fluke discovery of a singe tiny but distinctive…
Bats fascinate me. So, naturally, does their diet. Recent research showed that bats made “feeding buzzes” over saltmarsh habitats. These habitats are full of mosquitoes and this specific buzz is made only…
When I started my PhD to gain understanding of factors affecting the plight of bats living in our cities, I had no idea I’d be stuffing a freezer full of faeces one day. Sorry - I’m getting ahead of myself…
Heavy-handed strategies won’t reduce the risk of bat-borne diseases and will be detrimental to the environment.
Flickr/mdavidford
The recent tragic death of a young boy from Australian bat lyssavirus (ABL) produced a predictable chorus of calls to disperse flying fox colonies and kill flying foxes, all in the name of public health…
Catching prey such as mosquitoes would be pretty hard if you couldn’t focus your vision.
Nature.com
A study released today in Nature shines some light on why bats produce high frequency calls – and why some squeak far higher than others. Over the last four years I have been researching bats by monitoring…
Flying-foxes are taking refuge in populated areas, and people are deciding they don’t like them.
James Reed
Animosity towards the grey-headed flying-fox has intensified as their contact with humans has increased. Last month, the Queensland government announced that it would issue an annual quota of 1280 permits…
People who get to know flying foxes are less likely to loathe them.
michis
Even Australia’s most iconic, charismatic species are in danger of extinction. Species such as the cassowary, Tasmanian devil and koala all enjoy significant community support and relatively generous funding…
Fruit bats carry disease, pollen and a warning about the state of the environment.
shellac/Flickr
This year has had the lot. First came the tempest, then the floods. Fires are on their way as the landscape dries out. Now we have pestilence, in the form of Hendra virus. Calls for bat culls have ensued…
Maître de Conférences (HDR) à Sorbonne Université, ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (CNRS, MNHN, SU, EPHE, UA), Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)