A colony of about 1,000 flying foxes in a South Australian town has been shattered by the intense heat that gripped south-eastern Australia last week, with more than 80% of the camp at Naracoorte wiped out.
“It’s a devastating loss of numbers,” said Judith Bemmer, a carer at Bat Rescue SA. Among the surviving 180 animals, about 34 underweight and dehydrated babies were rescued, and would face months of recovery.
The flying fox deaths came off the back of an earlier heatwave in January, which saw thousands perish in the largest mass mortality event for the animals since the 2019-20 black summer.
Reports from the second, more sig
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