Wildlife

Flying Fox Welfare During Extreme Heat Events

Grey-headed and black flying foxes suffer mass mortality events during extreme heat, with thousands dying in hours when temperatures exceed 42 degrees Celsius.

Key Facts

Grey-headed flying foxes are listed as vulnerable with around 800,000 remaining
Extreme heat events killed over 21,000 flying foxes in a single event in Queensland in 2014
Flying foxes are highly heat-sensitive — core temperature rises fatally above 42 degrees C
They cluster in colonies of thousands, making them extremely vulnerable to heat events
They are Australia's primary long-distance seed dispersers and pollinators of eucalyptus

Welfare Considerations

Mass heat death events cause acute suffering at enormous scale — tens of thousands of individuals dying simultaneously from hyperthermia over hours. Young bats separated from their mothers fall to the ground and die from heat and dehydration. Volunteer responders who mobilise to spray heat-affected colonies with water save significant numbers but cannot address the full scale. The frequency and severity of extreme heat events is increasing with climate change.

What You Can Do

If you find a collapsed flying fox, keep it cool and contact wildlife rescue — do not handle it directly
Support wildlife rescue organisations that respond to flying fox heat events
Donate to Bat Conservation and Rescue Queensland and similar state organisations
Advocate for urban tree canopy expansion to provide shade in flying fox roost sites