Prepare for a bat INVASION: 250,000 flying foxes are expected to cause chaos in the city as they escape bushfire-ravaged areas

  • Brisbane has been swarmed by a quarter million little red flying foxes recently 
  • Last week 250,000 bats descended upon Deception Bay, north of the city
  • A further 150,000 bats were seen at nearby Bongaree to escape drought and fire
  • It comes a week after 300,000 fruit bats swarmed a rescue helicopter in Ingham 

By Alana Mazzoni For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 06:19 GMT, 30 January 2020 | Updated: 06:19 GMT, 30 January 2020

Brisbane has been swarmed by 250,000 bats trying to escape bushfire-ravaged regions – with more expected to plague Queensland’s southeast.

Hundreds of thousands of red flying foxes are set to take advantage of the recent rain and fly south hunting for food.

Last week, 250,000 bats descended upon Deception Bay, north of Brisbane, and a further 150,000 were seen at nearby Bongaree.

The Department of Environment and Science have warned residents the bats will soon make their way south and north to escape drought and bushfires.

Hundreds of thousands of little red flying foxes will take advantage of the recent rain and fly south hunting for food (stock image)

Hundreds of thousands of little red flying foxes will take advantage of the recent rain and fly south hunting for food (stock image) 

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services program manager Warren Christensen said the bats regularly move around from camp to camp.

‘They basically follow the flowering of plants; if the plants are flowering, that’s where they’ll go,’ he told the Courier-Mail.

‘They travel vast distances, these could be coming from the west, they could be coming from the south.’

The bat invasion comes after a helicopter was unable to reach a hospital after it was swarmed by 300,000 fruit bats in Ingham, in the state’s northwest.

The bat invasion comes after a helicopter was unable to reach a hospital after it was swarmed by 300,000 fruit bats in Ingham, in the state's northwest

The bat invasion comes after a helicopter was unable to reach a hospital after it was swarmed by 300,000 fruit bats in Ingham, in the state's northwest

The bat invasion comes after a helicopter was unable to reach a hospital after it was swarmed by 300,000 fruit bats in Ingham, in the state’s northwest 

Footage taken last Thursday showed thousands of bats blanketing the sky as a medical helicopter was unable to land on Ingham hospital.  

Hinchinbrook Shire Council mayor Ramon Jayo said the town was reaching a ‘crisis point’ as the number of bats continued to grow.

Mr Jayo told the ABC the fruit bat population had destroyed all their traditional roosting spots and were expanding into sensitive areas. 

‘It’s a life or death situation – minutes wasted trying to land and minutes wasted going out to the airport,’ Mr Jayo said.

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