Fly By Night Bat Clinic director Tamsyn Hogarth tells fill-in host Kirby about how the threatened species Grey Headed Flying Fox and other native bats and wildlife fare in extreme heat events like the ones we have experienced in January.

At the time of this interview, Tamsyn had 76 bats in rehab in the wildlife shelter that she runs out of her home. There are also other bats and flying foxes at other clinics around Melbourne. Drought conditions, extreme heat, starvation and illegal fruit netting are all factors that have contributed to clinics being "inundated" with hundreds of injured, stressed and unwell bats who required bottle-feeding, substitute fruit and other hands-on care.

"As soon as we know the temperature is going to be over 40 degrees, it's quite worrying for wildlife rescuers across the board with a lot of wildlife but the flying foxes don't do well at all... If we keep going the way we are, we're not going to have them by 2050 because they are dying in large numbers."

Tamsyn says that "a few thousand bats" were sadly lost from bat camps around Melbourne like Brimbank Park during the extreme heat in early January, which is really concerning given flying foxes' important ecological role as pollinators for eucalypts.

During hot weather, Tamsyn says members of the general public should stay away from flying fox camps like those in Yarra Bend Park and Brimbank Park, and if they see an injured bat they shouldn't try to handle bats or attempt a rescue; instead they should contact a wildlife shelter like Fly By Night.

Over the next three months Fly By Night will spend $75,000 on substitute fruit for flying foxes who can't currently access eucalyptus nectar which is their preferred food source. You can learn more about their work and options for supporting the clinic on their website.

Image credit: Fly By Night