ABOUT BAT CONSERVATION AND RESCUE QLD
Bat Conservation and Rescue Qld
is a registered not-for-profit volunteer organization that strives to help people understand the importance
of all bat species, to provide a prompt and humane rescue service, to raise orphans and to rehabilitate injured bats before returning them to the wild.
BCRQ offers this free 24/7 community service all year round including public holidays.
I HAVE FOUND A BAT
SEEK HELP – PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH BATS!
CALL OUR RESCUE HOTLINE ON 0488 228 134
If a bat bites or scratches a human, it may have to be destroyed and sent for testing for Australian Bat Lyssavirus – do not risk the bat’s life or your health. Only people trained and Rabies vaccinated should handle bats.
A flying-fox hanging on overhead power lines may still be alive. Even if dead, it may be a mother with a live baby tucked up under her wing. Please call BCRQ immediately.
If you find a flying-fox caught on a barbed wire fence, please very carefully and without touching it, throw a towel over the bat to help keep it calm. Then call BCRQ immediately.
If you find a flying-fox caught in fruit tree netting, do not try and cut the bat out of the net but call BCRQ immediately.
If the bat is on the ground, please cover the bat with a cardboard box or a washing basket to contain it and call BCRQ immediately.
Any bat by itself through the day is in trouble.
Keep children and pets away from the bat to help minimise its stress and remember, NO TOUCH NO RISK!
HOW YOU CAN HELP
BECOME A MEMBER
Join as an active or associate member. BCRQ offers free training to members.
MAKE A DONATION
Donate via GoGive, Bank Transfer or PayPal.
All donations of $2.00 and over are tax deductible.
Birthing season for little red flying-foxes (Pteropus scapulatus) began several weeks ago. Sadly, this means that at this time of year orphans can come into our care for a variety of reasons. Meet three of our most recent arrivals. ![]()
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Even at a very young age, Enya, Eva and Eddie are keen to flap and exercise their muscles in preparation for a lifetime ahead of long-distance flying and pollinating. As you can see, it is very tiring work!![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.
A caring resident had a fishpond and she placed netting over it to protect her fish. Unfortunately, a senior black flying fox somehow became entangled in it and couldn’t free himself. We’ve called him Beluga, because of his large forearm measurement of 180mm or 7 inches. We rarely see flying foxes with wings this large! He’s recovering well and we’ll release him just as soon as he’s recovered from his injuries.![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.
It’s raining!![]()
And our rehabilitating bats are choosing to stay out in the rain, even though there’s shelter in the aviary.![]()
They remind us of our volunteers, whose dedication to rescuing bats isn’t stopped by rain, or anything else.![]()
This National Volunteer Week we salute our volunteers!![]()
We admire and appreciate your passion and commitment. Thank you.![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.![]()
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#NVW2026 #volunteering #batrescue
Bowie is a gorgeous adult black flying fox who is now back in the wild. He was found on the ground just off an inner urban bikeway in mid-January and had some small blisters on his wing membrane. Over the coming weeks, more and more blisters appeared, burst, then formed holes, then healed. We believe these injuries to be from fireworks. It took nearly four months but finally all his injuries healed and Bowie flew beautifully in his flight test.![]()
Please be on extra lookout for bats hanging low or on the ground if fireworks are let off in your area. The bat could be unable to fly because of painful burns.![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.
Who remembers the hit 90’s movie in which the main character is stuck in a time loop, waking every morning to “I got you babe” playing on his clock radio?![]()
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Well, we have had our very own version of ‘Groundhog Day’! ![]()
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Seven weeks ago, a lady named Donna and her beloved pooch Kobe found a bat dangling from discarded fishing tackle. Donna called us, and we immediately sent out one of our wonderful volunteers to rescue the bat. Louise, as she was named, featured in our post on 7th April. After six weeks in care, Louise was released. Just three days later, Donna and Kobe found ANOTHER young grey-headed flying fox caught in fishing tackle in the SAME inner urban location. Once again, Donna called us and we sent another of our intrepid rescuers to retrieve the bat. Holly, named by Donna, is currently doing well in care. ![]()
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We can’t thank Donna enough for calling us on both occasions. ![]()
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Parents, please teach your children to always retrieve fishing tackle that gets caught in trees. It causes suffering to many different wildlife species, not only bats. ![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.
How is a backyard colorbond fence a hazard for a flying fox?![]()
Bats can’t climb these smooth metal fences, so they can make escape from the yard impossible.![]()
That’s what happened to Thor, a beautiful big black flying fox. He somehow became trapped between a compost bin and one of these fences in the corner of a backyard. ![]()
He’s recovering well and shouldn’t be long in care. Can you see the grazes on his wrists, thumbs and nose?![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.
Could you be a bat rescuer?![]()
We are conducting rescue training next weekend on Sunday 17 May in a Brisbane western suburbs location.![]()
If this is you, join now! You can attend training and follow up with your vaccinations later. ![]()
You can join here: bats.org.au/get-involved/join-now/![]()
We’d love to see you there.![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.
Little red flying foxes are summer visitors to SE Qld. They typically head north in autumn so the girls can birth and raise their babies in warmer climes.![]()
Erik the Red is a senior gentleman Little Red who is still in SE Qld, along with quite a few of his mates, in a bayside camp.![]()
Poor Erik the Red has a sore toe. We think he may have got it caught in a palm tree and wrenched it free. He’ll be in care while his toe heals. He’s finding banana smoothie hits the spot nicely.![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.
Flying foxes are very clean animals and spend a good bit of their time grooming to keep their bodies and wings spotless.![]()
Here’s Teddy giving himself a lovely wash. Teddy was found near a flying fox camp at around 10 weeks of age. He was quite skinny and there was no sign of his mum, so it was clear something had separated them and he was struggling without her.![]()
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Teddy is now thriving and will soon be ready for soft release, giving him his second chance at life.![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.
Hopper is not actually waiting for his coffee order on this footpath chair, although it might look like it. We think Hopper, a young grey-headed flying fox, may have been bumped by a vehicle flying to or from the tree you can see here. Thankfully it’s a narrow, busy road and vehicles would have been travelling slowly. Hopper would have climbed this chair to hang and wait until he felt better.![]()
You can see him meeting another grey-headed flying fox in the flight aviary where he is recovering nicely.![]()
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If you see a bat on its own in the daytime, it needs help. PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BAT and give us a call immediately on 0488 228 134 for Brisbane and surrounds, or your local wildlife rescue in other regions.