A months-long search for the spectacled flying fox is bringing hope of recovery for the endangered species. Photo: Cape York Natural Resource Management.
Cultural knowledge on Lockhart River is contributing to a hopeful future for the endangered spectacled flying foxes.
Last year, Cape York Natural Resource Management (NRM), in partnership with traditional owners, land managers, scientists and government, took on a four-year project to support the recovery of the megabat, which is listed nationally as one of 110 priority threatened species.
Through engagement with the Lockhart River community, Northern Kuuku Ya’u Land and Sea Rangers, traditional owners, and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), several possible camps were identified.
In October, the team embarked on a five-day trip to the Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park after training in Habitat Condition Assessment methods, discussing reported flying fox sightings and plant species that made up their diet.
On the final day, they discovered an active spectacled flying fox camp using a hand-drawn mud map from one of the rangers.
The team involved Cape York NRM project officer Maree Coulson, Northern Kuuku Ya’u Land and Sea Rangers coordinator Shimona Walsh and ranger Colin Pascoe, and QPWS ranger-in-charge Karl Goetze and colleague Efrin Dagami.
“Monitoring was sometimes through thick vegetation and off-track, with a GPS guiding us through wait-a-while and dense bush, up and down dried creek beds, through rainforest and into open woodland,” Ms Coulson said.
“We had a variety of terrain, and some surveys were a challenge to get to, and in particular, Shimona and Efrin’s local knowledge and support were essential.”
She said discovering the roost within the national park was a significant milestone, and the focus was now on locating more camps across Cape York.
Throughout the program, they have called on members of the public to report any sightings of the endangered species, which forage in eucalypt, melaleuca and mangrove forests.
“We need to know more about their presence on Cape York , and we need the community’s help with this,” Ms Coulson said.
“There is limited information known about their presence on Cape York, so the information we’re looking for from the community is the time, place and number of bats seen. Photographs are also great.
“Spectacled flying foxes are considered a rainforest specialist among the Australian flying foxes; they play an important role in seed dispersal and rainforest regeneration.”
To report a sighting of a spectacled flying fox in Cape York, visit the Cape York NRM website.
