Sept. 21, 2006 —A cyclone named Larry has made 10,000 flying foxes vanish and zoologist Louise Shilton needs to find them — quick.
After slamming into Australia's Queensland state in March, Larry appears to have scattered the local species crow-sized, fruit-eating bats to distant places, said Shilton, who works for the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.
The event is both good and bad for her ongoing project to monitor the usually poorly distributed animals.
It's bad news because it's rather difficult to study animals you can't find.
"We need to be providing the best possible population data and we can't monitor them without knowing where they roost," Shilton told Discovery News. Among Shilton's questions about the bats is what they are eating and where they have chosen to roost.
The good news is that when she finds them, she'll probably be able to answer those questions and learn about what these animals regard as good habitat — a matter of debate at the moment, she said.
Do they really depend solely on undisturbed forest, or do they like urban areas where fruit trees are irrigated and predators are few? It's the sort of thing people who love — and those who loathe — flying foxes want to know.
"There's this kind of love-hate relationship with fruit bats in Australia," said Shilton.
Some people adore them and point to evidence that flying foxes play a critical role in pollinating and spreading the seeds of native plants. Others are less enthusiastic.
"They do come into contact with fruit growers," said Shilton. "But they also come into conflict with people in urban environments."
That's because the bats congregate in large noisy crowds and produce foul-smelling guano.
