Help shape Flying Fox Management in the Whitsundays

Consultation results and next steps

We thank the community for having their say on Flying fox management in the Whitsundays. We sought feedback on:

1. Community sentiment and experiences with Flying fox
2. Flying fox impacts on residents
3. Perception of Flying fox management actions and preferred approaches
4. Concerns and limitations for Flying fox management actions

Please view our consultation summary or detailed consultation report. Key feedback included:

• Identification of the significant impact of Flying fox on people, lifestyle, property, and assets.
• Strong desire from some submitters to re-locate Flying fox and put people first.
• Mix of responses to intensive actions, such as pyrotechnics and tree trimming, which is strongly supported by majority of directly affected residents, but less so for those further away from roosts.
• Less support for all management actions, the further away from the roost residents are.
• If Flying fox unable to be relocated, support for financial incentives for resident’s lifestyle mitigations, education, and planting roost trees outside of town.
• Some concerns about animal welfare and support for live alongside roost management options, only from persons not directly affected by Flying fox.

Council will consider consultation results at an upcoming Council meeting, to decide upon next steps for managing Flying fox in Collinsville and future roosts that may occur in urban areas. We continue to monitor the Flying fox roost in Collinsville.

Flying-foxes are a keystone species, for their critical role in long-distance pollination and seed dispersal. These ecosystem services are particularly important over fragmented landscapes and to allow forests to adapt to threats such as climate change.

Within the Whitsunday Region, two species are most prevalent:

• Little Red Flying Fox – migratory, often appearing in our Region from June - November
• Black Flying Fox

The activities of Flying foxes sometimes bring them into conflict with residents. Primary concerns include noise, odour, droppings, feeding on fruit trees, human health and disease.

Presently, there are several roosts within our Region, with a major roost creating the greatest impact for people located in the urban area of Collinsville. The roost fluctuates in numbers throughout the year, with an endemic population of Black Flying Fox ranging from a few hundred to 1,600 (end of May 2024). The annual migration of Little Red Flying Fox from June – November results in peaks of over 26,000.