{"id":10128,"date":"2025-10-23T05:17:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T05:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/?p=10128"},"modified":"2025-10-23T06:45:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T06:45:49","slug":"littleredbats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/littleredbats\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife-friendly fencing"},"content":{"rendered":"[mk_page_section bg_image=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sff2-banner.jpg” bg_position=”center center” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_stretch=”true” enable_3d=”true” min_height=”500″ js_vertical_centered=”true” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” section_id=”donate” el_class=”donate-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”70px”][mk_fancy_title font_family=”none” align=”center”]WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY FENCING SAVES LIVES[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”67″][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789112768{padding-right: 36px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_left”][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”15″ visibility=”visible-sm”][mk_padding_divider visibility=”visible-tl”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]LITTLE RED BATS DYING ON FENCES[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”60″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″ visibility=”visible-nb”][vc_column_text el_class=”sub-head” css=”.vc_custom_1761197101612{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]OCTOBER 2025[\/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider size=”5″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1761197703277{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]More than 200 little red bats have been badly injured on barbed wire fences in recent windy weather. Wildlife carers rescued them over three days and, sadly, many had to be euthanised.<\/p>\n

The little red bats were caught on barbed wire fences in the Tumoulin, Gillies Highway, East Palmerston and Mareeba areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the fences were on ridgelines. The bats were trying to keep low, and out of the wind, and they smashed into fences,\u2019\u2019 Jenny from Tolga Bat Hospital says.\u00a0 \u201cTumoulin near Ravenshoe is a real hotspot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Important pollinators of native tree species<\/strong><\/p>\n

These bats are roosting through the day in the Tolga Scrub. Little reds are the smallest flying fox in Far North Queensland. They mainly eat blossom and nectar from native trees and can travel 20 to 30km a night in search of food. They are important pollinators of native tree species, usually staying in one roost for four to eight weeks and then moving on.<\/p>\n

Plain top wires on fences save lives<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seeing so many little reds tangled up in barbed wire has wildlife carers again talking up the importance of plain wire as the top wire in fences. The top wire of fences cause 86 per cent of entrapments.<\/p>\n

\u201cSwapping to plain wire saves lives – for bats and other native animals like owls and gliders,\u2019\u2019 Jenny says.<\/p>\n

\u201cTolga Bat Hospital has been running a wildlife-friendly fencing project since\u00a02006. It’s impossible to do nothing when you witness the suffering and loss of life from barbed wire fences in hotspot areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terrain NRM\u2019s Tony O\u2019Malley says landholders are adopting new solutions, including a more visible twisted plain wire, that minimise risks to wildlife while still being effective for farming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a new factsheet with a range of options \u2013 whether you\u2019re putting in new fences or maintaining existing fences.<\/p>\n

\u201cTop strand options include barbless double-strand twisted wire (barbed wire without barbs) or plain wire.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563789122720{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 34px !important;}” el_class=”great_header_right”][mk_padding_divider size=”206″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1761197428255{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\"\"[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1761197695845{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]How you can help<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 If you own a farm or property:<\/strong> Look into wildlife friendly fencing<\/a><\/strong> to help prevent entanglements.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Report sick, injured, or dead bats<\/strong> to FNQ Wildlife Rescue on (07) 4053 4467. (Avoid touching them)<\/p>\n

Terrain NRM\u2019s work in this area is part of its Forest Resilience project, funded by the Australian Government\u2019s Saving Native Species program. The Tolga Scrub and Tumoulin are Mabi Forest and Wet sclerophyll forest respectively, which are some of the most threatened ecological communities in the Wet Tropics region.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section el_class=”grean-btn-sec” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”47″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_button dimension=”outline” url=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/spectacled-flying-foxes-faqs\/” align=”right” el_class=”green-btn” outline_skin=”custom” outline_active_color=”#175137″ outline_active_text_color=”#ffffff” outline_hover_bg_color=”#175137″ outline_hover_color=”#ffffff”]Read More[\/mk_button][mk_padding_divider size=”100″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section section_id=”great-1-blog” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_padding_divider size=”105″ visibility=”hidden-sm”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” align=”right” el_class=”terrain-title”]RELATED NEWS[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider visibility=”hidden-sm”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” id=”post_grid_filter_1″][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”grid_greate_3″ css=”.vc_custom_1743711316392{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

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