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.
A hailstorm has caused mass death and suffering in flying foxes again. A month after the tragedy in Tin Can Bay, the Esk colony was in the firing line of a vicious mid-afternoon storm.![]()
Along with RSPCA QLD and some Bats QLD members, many of our volunteers made the trip of over an hour to save any bats we could, and humanely end the pain of those we couldn’t. Nasty fractures and concussions are the most common injuries these bats sustain. This emergency response has continued every day since the storm a week ago because the scale of loss and injury is huge. This is exacerbated by the time of year: right now mothers have dependent babies clinging to their bodies, reliant on them for survival. Many of these have been orphaned, alive because their mothers’ bodies protected them. All three species that live in the area are affected: black, grey-headed and little red flying foxes.![]()
Big thanks to our friends in other rescue groups who will share the load of raising the babies that were saved. RSPCA Qld have assessed and treated over 200 victims, absorbing this massive extra workload into their already busy schedule. Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary helped too. It’s truly been a mammoth co-operative response.![]()
All of this incurs considerable costs. We’ll be truly grateful for any help you’re able to give. Please consider donating to us and the other organisations mentioned. For us, there's a donate button on this page. Please go to the websites of the other organisations to help. 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.
Bats can get themselves into all sorts of tricky and unusual situations. Sunset is one of those strange cases. She was found at a construction site wedged into a narrow hole. Her attempts to escape the slippery hole resulted in a thick crusty coating of mud over every inch of her body. Submerging and bathing a wild adult flying-fox is quite an art, but our very capable carer ensured Sunset remained relaxed throughout the process. Sunset didn’t receive the luxury spa experience that she was hoping for, but she instantly became more beautiful when her DIY mud mask was removed!![]()
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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.
Powerlines can be a hazard to flying-foxes, particularly when there are fruiting or flowering trees close by. At this time of the year mother flying-foxes are carrying their babies, so it is important to check any dead bodies on powerlines. As you can see in our video, the mother’s wings made contact with two wires and she was electrocuted. However, as is often the case, her baby survived. Once again, the wonderful Energex team responded to our call for help. Baby Chantel (named in honour of the Energex phone dispatcher) had plenty to say when she was rescued! She is now doing well in care. Thank you to everyone involved in saving little Chantel’s 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.
True or false? Fairy lights in trees are harmless.![]()
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Answer: FALSE Fairy lights can harm wildlife.![]()
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Oberon is a stunning adult black flying fox in peak health and condition, but even skilled foragers like Oberon have no defences against hazards we humans unwittingly leave in the environment. He was hopelessly entangled in many loops of fairy lights.![]()
Thank you so much to the lovely family who called and who urged our rescuer to cut the light strings to free Oberon as quickly as possible. They plan to remove the rest. Thanks also for permission to use your videos.![]()
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Once freed, Oberon enjoyed some banana smoothie and he’ll recuperate in a flight aviary with other bats for a few weeks while we ensure he’s fully injury-free and can return 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.
Meet baby Adam. Rescued off high voltage powerlines after a long day in the sun. A very enthusiastic Energex rescuer did a great job of coaxing bub onto a towel at the end of a very, very long pole. His name was Adam too. What a coincidence!![]()
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Birthing season is here and, sadly, we are currently rescuing multiple baby flying foxes each day. Babies hanging on power lines, with or without their mother, is one common reason.![]()
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Please be sure to call if you see a bat on powerlines so we can check for a baby that is alive, even if the poor mother has passed away.![]()
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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.
Dolly Travelin’ Thru – a long name for a young black flying fox who went on a long trip.![]()
Dolly Travelin’ Thru somehow ended up on the roof of the cabin of a large truck. This truck had a wind deflector and Dolly clung for her life to the strut holding it up for over two hours. She was spotted by the driver when he stopped and he gave us a call. Thank you!![]()
Thanks very much to the wildlife vet team at RSPCA QLD for a check over. Amazingly, Dolly has a graze to the inside of one elbow but no other injuries, although she was exhausted and frightened after this ordeal.![]()
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When Dolly recovers and is released, we hope she sticks to travelling by air, not road.![]()
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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.
Brigitte is another young black flying fox barbed wire victim. Did we mention we hate barbed wire and the cruelty it inflicts on wildlife?![]()
Luckily for her, Brigitte’s membrane damage will heal and she’ll be flying free again with time. Our environment needs her to pollinate our forest trees and spread our native plant seeds.![]()
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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.
Blossom and Evangeline are both young grey-headed flying foxes who were victims of barbed wire entrapment. Both awful fences had flowering trees nearby that attracted the girls.![]()
Evangeline has injuries to her wing membrane in two places. They’ve healed well, she’s flying like a champ and will be released soon.![]()
Blossom has membrane damage too and also a barb pierced her cheek and mouth. Barbed wire really is the most horrific material to use for fencing – for security, for farms, for anything.![]()
Thanks to skilled surgery by the wonderful team at Our Vet Capalaba, Blossom’s mouth is healing beautifully. Her membrane holes are on the mend too, although it will be a longer road to release for her than Evangeline.![]()
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Please let us know if you see flowering trees overhanging barbed wire fences. We can ask for permission to trim trees back and mark the fences with white tape to make them visible to flying foxes and other nocturnal wildlife.![]()
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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 this Sunday!![]()
Local friends, Batty Boat Cruises, run by the wonderful Wildlife Queensland, are such special events. Dress up in your batty best, see flying foxes flying overhead, meet a live baby flying fox and so much more. We'd love to see you there. 🦇
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Sometimes it’s not possible to avoid hitting an animal if you’re driving and it runs or flies right in front of you. It’s what you do next that matters. Nyx’s saviour realised she’d hit a bat and stopped immediately. She safely contained the bat without touching, then took her to a vet, from where we collected her. Thank you so much!![]()
Sadly, some flying foxes hit by vehicles have injuries too severe to save. But some are only bruised!![]()
Logan, who you met last week, and Nyx, are two who are well on the road to recovery thanks to caring people who stopped. Nyx was named by her saviour after the Greek goddess of the night.![]()
Thanks to the wildlife vet team at RSPCA QLD for a check of this beautiful young black flying fox girl, Nyx.![]()
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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.