SPECIES: Pteropus conspicillatus — Spectacled Flying-fox
CLASSIFICATION: Endangered
Today we 'appreciate' the Spectacled Flying Fox, one of Australia's largest bat species, and among the most important. Found only in the tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland, they are endangered and declining fast.
They are intelligent, highly social, and form strong bonds within their camps. At night, they travel long distances – sometimes over 50 km – in search of food, helping forests regenerate far and wide. These flying mammals play a critical ecological role, pollinating and dispersing seeds for more than 100 species of rainforest plants, including many that depend entirely on flying foxes to reproduce.
But they’re facing a cascade of threats: extreme heatwaves, like the 2018 event that killed over 23,000 individuals, can wipe out colonies in days and habitat clearing for agriculture and urban development is shrinking their roosting and foraging areas, are the biggest threats impacting the declining population.