2015-10-13 Planning & Organisation Agenda Attachment 1 to Item 6 Draft Flying Fox Management Plan

 draft
    4. In all cases, it was not possible to predict where replacement camps would form.
    5. Conflict was often not resolved. In 71% of cases conflict was still being reported
       either at the original site or within the local area years after the initial dispersal
       actions.
    6. Repeat dispersal actions were generally required (all cases except extensive
       vegetation removal).
    7. The financial costs of all dispersal attempts were high ranging from tens of thousands
       of dollars for vegetation removal to hundreds of thousands for active dispersals (e.g.
       using noise, smoke etc).

Flying-fox roosts are in a constant state of flux, with individual animals at the roost changing
on a regular basis as they move around the landscape. For example, the Wallace Park
historical counts peak at 467,412, however it may actually be used by a million or more animals
at different times. This is one of the most significant challenges of a dispersal, in that it takes
an extensive amount of time to ‘educate’ all animals that have used the roost over time. Flying-
foxes will also attempt to recolonise a roost even after they have been dispersed. The ongoing
effort required means that dispersals are inevitably expensive (generally hundreds of
thousands of dollars), and the uncertainty makes budgeting and outcomes impossible to
accurately predict.

The potential cost of dispersal from Wallace Park is compounded by difficulties accessing the
site given that it is often waterlogged. Further there a number of ecological and legislative
constraints associated with this site as detailed in Section 3.

4.2.1     Passive dispersal with vegetation removal

Removing vegetation can be used to passively disperse a roost, by gradually making the
habitat unattractive so that flying-foxes abandon the site. This method is less stressful to flying-
foxes, and greatly reduces the risk of splinter colonies forming in other locations (as flying-
foxes are more likely to move to other known sites within their roost network when not being
forced to move immediately, as in active dispersal). However it usually involves removing an
extensive amount of canopy vegetation, and is therefore not appropriate for sites with high
ecological and amenity value such as Wallace Park roost.

4.2.2     Active dispersal without vegetation removal

A range of tools can be used to actively disperse flying-foxes, including noise (i.e. stock whips,
whistles, recorded noise), visual deterrents (i.e. lights, laser pointers) and olfactory (i.e.
smoke).

Dispersal personnel position themselves under the roost prior to flying-foxes returning to the
roost from nightly foraging, which varies seasonally but may be as early as 0300. In
accordance with the EPBC guideline (see Section 3.4), dispersal should continue for no more
than 2.5 hours each morning. It is anticipated that at least six personnel would be required at
Wallace Park, with additional stand-by staff that may need to disperse from other inappropriate
splinter locations.


Flying-fox roost management options                                             ecosure.com.au | 18