Rescuers Respond to Mass Flying Fox Pup Deaths After Cyclone in Northern Territory

Hundreds of dead and dying juvenile flying foxes have been found on streets in Katherine and Pine Creek, south of Darwin, after ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle passed over the Northern Territory last month. The cyclone, which occurred in the region, led adult bats to abandon their pups ahead of the extreme weather.

Wildlife rescuers reported that more than 20 workers and volunteers have been conducting nearly daily rescue missions between Darwin and the outback towns to retrieve surviving pups.

Wild North Veterinary Hospital in Darwin is treating dozens of the rescued bats. Staff at the hospital, including practice manager Kacey Farris, have been covering travel costs and care expenses. Farris described the situation as involving hundreds of dead pups, with others falling to the ground during rescues.

“Hundreds are dead; they're falling around you while you're trying to rescue other ones, falling to the ground screaming like we just missed them.”

The hospital sought assistance from NT Parks and Wildlife, but the Northern Territory government, led by the Country Liberal Party, declined to provide additional workers or funding. Instead, officials took some carcasses for autopsies to determine the cause of death.

The hospital also applied for a permit to transfer surviving pups across state lines for specialist care, with interstate volunteers prepared to accept them.

NT Parks and Wildlife denied the transfer request in a notice, citing potential animal welfare and biosecurity risks that outweighed the benefits. The notice stated that the flying fox species is abundant and not classified as threatened. NT chief veterinary officer Rob Williams is investigating the high mortality rates, including possible diseases such as lyssavirus, but initial indications point to starvation linked to weather events reducing food resources.

The notice further described the deaths as a natural ecological process that occurs periodically, with bat populations highly likely to recover as food resources become available. Wildlife veterinarian Rebecca Webster from the Darwin hospital reported preliminary findings aligning with this assessment, noting that adults fled before the cyclone, leaving hundreds to thousands of pups orphaned.

Webster highlighted that such a large-scale flying fox mortality event is unprecedented in the Northern Territory.

Flying foxes play a role in the ecosystem as major pollen distributors, aiding forest regeneration. Even without disease involvement, the dead bats pose a public health risk if contacted by children or pets. Director of the NT Centre for Disease Control, Vicki Krause, noted that bats are common across Australia and form an important part of the ecosystem.

Rescuers have urged the public to avoid contact with the bats. Next steps include ongoing investigations into the mortality causes and continued local care for survivors, with no further government funding allocated at this time.