Flying-fox populations in Eurobodalla

• The Water Gardens is a six-hectare wetland park close to the Batemans Bay town centre.
• This camp has had the largest flying-fox population.
• Council manages this land; the flying-fox camp also extends onto private land next to it.

Site and history

• The Water Gardens opened in 1999; a community committee managed the land. The site is:
  • a natural drainage area that was once used for stock grazing
  • covered with swamp oak floodplain forest vegetation, an Endangered Ecological Community (EEC)
  • zoned for environmental conservation.
• In 1989, Council redeveloped the site into a town park.
• In 2012, Council started managing the site. The regrowing vegetation bordered many residential properties around the park.

Flying-foxes - timeline of events

• 2012: Council recorded grey-headed flying-foxes at the Water Gardens. There were reports that small numbers occupied the site before 2012.
• 2013: Council recorded more than 10,000 flying-foxes in the camp.
• 2014: Council recorded more than 20,000 flying-foxes in the camp.
• 2015: Council developed the Water Gardens Grey-headed Flying-Fox Management Plan. The plan outlines the different ways to manage the impacts of flying-foxes on residents and businesses. As part of the plan, we removed the overgrown vegetation at the Water Gardens to reinstate buffers between houses.
• 2016: Eurobodalla had a mass-flowering of spotted gum and red bloodwood in our forests. This flowering attracted hundreds of thousands of flying-foxes to Batemans Bay. After the influx of flying-foxes, Council carried out works, including:
  • extended the buffer zones to residences
  • weed control and mowing
  • removing rubbish
  • planting and mulching native shrubs and grasses
  • installed a water pump and canopy sprinklers to discourage flying-foxes from roosting in vegetation near houses.
• 2016: Council started monitoring flying-fox numbers after dispersal activities in June.
• 2018: Council developed the Eurobodalla Flying-fox Management Plan.

• The camp is at the Club Catalina golf course, along Hanging Rock Creek, Batemans Bay.
• The vegetation at this camp is an EEC - swamp sclerophyll forest on coastal floodplain or coastal swamp oak forest.
• The site is zoned as environmental conservation.
• Council started monitoring the camp in November 2012.
• Council recorded flying-foxes at the site in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Flying-foxes continue to occupy this camp at times.
• The flying-fox population has always been less than 5,000, except in May 2016 when it was more than 120,000.
• The largest population at this camp covered 18.74 ha.

• The camp is on private land at Racecourse Creek, near Moruya Showground.
• The vegetation is a mix of native and exotic species.
• In 2023, the population increased to 10,000 individuals.
• The camp now extends along the creek to a swamp oak floodplain forest EEC, east of the Princes Highway.
• Flying-foxes have occupied the camp in small numbers over the last three years.

• The camp is on private land zoned as environmental conservation.
• The vegetation is swamp oak floodplain forest, an EEC.
• In early 2013, the National Flying-fox Monitoring Program recorded 10,000 flying-foxes and in 2015 at the same time, there were 2,000.
• In 2016, Council started monitoring this camp.
• In early 2019, Council recorded 13,000 flying-foxes.
• Flying-foxes occupy the camp on occasions.

• The camp is on Council-managed land and covers around 1.1ha.
• Council revegetated the land with a mix of native species, including she oaks.
• In December 2023, flying-foxes started occupying the camp.
• At the beginning of 2024, there were 2,500 flying-foxes.
• In mid-2024, there were only 250 flying-foxes.

• The camp is on vacant privately-owned land on Hector McWilliam Drive.
• The vegetation at the camp is yellow stringybark – coast grey box shrubby open forest on coastal ranges.
• Flying-foxes have occupied the camp since 2017.
• The average camp population covers an area of about 1,500m2.
• The National Flying-Fox Monitoring Program monitored the camp in 2017 as part of its program and counted 100 flying-foxes.
• In 2018 there were about 500 flying-foxes and in 2019, numbers increased to 3,000.

• The camp is in swamp-oak woodland in Eurobodalla National Park.
• Council has not mapped the extent of this camp.
• Flying-foxes first occupied the camp in 2024, with numbers reaching 4,000 in April and only 300 in July.
• The camp is close to the town centre but does not cause any problems for residents.
• Council will continue to track camp numbers.

The Narooma camp:

• is on public land zoned as environmental conservation and covers around 2.8ha
• has lilly pilly - sassafras, warm temperate rainforest in moist sheltered gullies, an EEC
• is not close to any urban areas
• is part of the National Flying-Fox Monitoring Program. In February and May 2013 and December 2017 there were no flying-foxes recorded
• had a population of about 400 flying-foxes during the autumn months of 2017 and 2018, and up to 3,000 in 2019.

• In 2016, more than 270,000 flying-foxes swarmed Batemans Bay in response to a mass flowering of spotted gum (Corymbia maculata) and fed bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera). This was about 40% of the entire population we counted in May 2016.
• Spotted gums flower from late autumn through winter, and red bloodwoods flower summer through autumn. In 2016, these species flowered at the same time.
• During the influx, flying-foxes occupied the Water Gardens and Catalina camps. The population also extended into residential areas around the camps and impacted residents.

How we managed the camps

• Council requested approval to carry out dispersal activities. The Minister for the Environment granted a National Interest Exemption. This exemption allowed us to disperse the flying-foxes and manage the vegetation at the camps.
• We were also asked to prepare a Conservation Agreement, which prompted us to develop the Eurobodalla Flying-fox Management Plan:
  • Eurobodalla Flying-fox Management Plan (9.8 MB)
• In 2016, we also developed the Batemans Bay Flying-fox Camp Dispersal Plan:
  • Batemans Bay Flying-fox Camp Dispersal Plan 2016-2019 (2.8 MB)
• In June and July 2016, we carried out approved flying-fox dispersal activities and numbers started to decrease. We also removed:
  • 5.3 hectares of vegetation from the Water Gardens and Catalina to provide buffers for residents
  • cocos palms to reduce disturbance from night-time foraging and mess from flying-fox faeces
  • weeds, mulched, and planted native shrubs and grasses at the Water Gardens.

2016 to 2019 population comparison

These maps show the extent of the flying-fox camps at their peak in April 2016, and in May 2019.

Click for larger images

The extent of flying-fox camps at their peak in April 2016

The extent of flying-fox camps in Batemans Bay in May 2019