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.
Midnight might just be the most enthusiastic lapper of smoothie we’ve ever seen! He’s a juvenile grey-headed flying fox who was hanging on the side of a barrel used as an outdoor brazier one night. Luckily, it wasn’t lit! Midnight had a few scuffs and was quite underweight, but is otherwise fine. ![]()
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Despite being quite late at night, the wonderful callers waited for our rescuer and kept an eye on Midnight. A large majestic owl also sat nearby, eyeing off Midnight as a potential snack. Flying-foxes are included on the menu of these natural predators, but we hope this one found an introduced pest species of rat to eat that night instead! ![]()
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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.
Bats the world over fulfil a vital ecological role as insect controllers or seed dispersers and pollinators. On the occasion of INTERNATIONAL BAT APPRECIATION DAY, 17 April 2025, we pay tribute to these amazing flying mammals. ![]()
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Some of the microbats and flying-foxes that we have had the privilege of caring for in recent months are presented in this short montage.![]()
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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.
We were delighted to learn of a young fan in Los Angeles who recently did a library project about bats. He learned a lot about why bats are important from our website and shared some of his work with us. His family also has a bat box in their backyard. Thank you for your excellent work, James! We have named one of our latest rescues in your honour 😊.![]()
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Yellow-bellied sheathtail bats usually eat their prey in flight, but James happily chomps through an all-you-can-eat mealworm buffet. Hollows in old growth trees are where these large microbats prefer to roost. Unfortunately many hollow-dependent wildlife species lose their homes every year to make way for development. All bats that come down in vegetation need to be taken into care because it takes 72 hours for the full extent of any injuries to appear. James is now being monitored for injuries caused when his tree was felled. We are hopeful that he can be released later this week.![]()
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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.
Henry is a very lucky boy. Just a young flying fox at around 4-5 months old, he had a mishap that left him on the ground and he became filthy from crawling around. He was spotted in a park and his wonderful finder stayed to show our rescuer where he was. This was super helpful because Henry was on the move, slowly, and there were many trees in the park that would make finding him a challenge. Thank you!![]()
Henry was very thin. He’s already gained a lovely amount of weight and we expect to be releasing him quite soon.![]()
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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 Kimberley’s dummy is nearly as big as she is! She was found on the ground under a large fig tree in the garden of a caring person. Thanks for calling to get her help. ❤![]()
She was one month old and very underweight. Sometimes mother flying foxes will fly out of their camp to forage with their baby and “park” their baby in a safe tree, while they forage alone, planning to come back later. We think that’s what Kimberley’s mum did but, for some reason, she wasn’t able to come back. After several days getting hungrier and hungrier, Kimberley fell to the ground. She’s now thriving with her foster carer.![]()
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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.
This gorgeous baby, named Friday by the kind homeowner who found her, is yet another late season flying-fox orphan. We don’t know what happened to Friday’s mother, but somehow this little one ended up hanging in a backyard bush. Little Friday is a bit sooky and needs a lot of reassurance from her carer, but she is doing well.![]()
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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.
Chloe is a juvenile grey-headed flying fox who was found on the ground in a park next to a library. So who better to name her after than an author? And what better author than one passionate about animal welfare: Chloe Aridjis. ❤![]()
Poor batty Chloe was very thin and flies had laid eggs on her. ![]()
Thanks to the excellent care by the wildlife vet team at RSPCA QLD we are confident Chloe is on the road to recovery.![]()
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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.
Pansy was spotted one night at a sports ground. By the time our rescuer arrived, she couldn’t be found. Thanks so much to Pansy’s saviours for locating her again, calling again and staying with her until another rescuer arrived. She’s about 9 weeks old and should still be with her mum but she was considerably underweight so something had happened to separate them. ![]()
She met her first grape 🍇 that night and it was instant love. ❤![]()
Pansy has settled in with some of our other 9 week old orphans. When they’re older and a healthy weight, we look forward to releasing them back to the wild.![]()
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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.
Some kind people heard a noise coming from their water tank, which is not currently in use and was open at the top. On investigating, they were astounded to see a flying fox stranded in the tank. There is a fruiting tree overhanging it so this poor girl, who they named Bubbles, had somehow ended up in the tank, with no way out.![]()
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She was filthy and her fur was matted with slime. Bubbles was understandably quite terrified. She had a day of rest, warmth and yummy fruit. Her carer considered shampooing her but this would further traumatise her. The best option was to put Bubbles in a flight aviary with other bats. This would calm her considerably. She could then clean herself with the help of some steady rain we’ve been having.![]()
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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.
This beautiful big black flying fox is Foxtel. He was hopelessly caught on an aerial and was spotted by a resident across the road and called in. Thank you!![]()
Luckily access for a fire truck was good and the local Fire and Rescue Service Queensland Fire Department were happy to help. Thank you too!![]()
Poor Foxtel was terrified by the noise of the cherry picker approaching him and struggled, entangling himself worse than he previously was. It was a very challenging job to untangle him but one of our most experienced rescuers was up to the task. ❤![]()
How often do you check your TV antenna? It’s rare, but flying foxes are caught on them from time to time. Please consider making a habit of checking yours every morning.![]()
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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.