A TAMWORTH group has officially asked for flying foxes to be removed from the state’s threatened species list.
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The flying mammals might not currently blanket the Tamworth skies, like they have in the past, but the local flying fox action committee has been busy to make headway during the “off-season”.
Committee spokesperson Craig Cox said the group had few endeavours on the boil.
“We’ve lodged an application with the NSW threatened species scientific committee asking to de-list flying foxes,” Mr Cox said.
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If the mammals were removed from the list, Mr Cox said it would allow for “strategies to disperse and practically reduce camp sizes” to be put in place.
Mr Cox said it wasn’t a euphemism for culling.
“We’ve never used those words,” he said.
“We don’t want to see bats killed.
“What we want to see is community and business health and well-being put before flying foxes which are in pest proportions.”
Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said, last year, flying foxes should be culled when their populations become too big.
“I’d like to see a benchmark put in when the number of bats reaches a certain number, in terms of population, they should be able to be culled or the numbers should be able to be reduced,” Mr Anderson said.
According to the Office of Environment and Heritage, there are five factors which are used to deem species threatened, including the number of individuals remaining; overall increase or decrease in the population over time; breeding success rates; change in geographic distribution and; known threats.
“In the case of the Grey-headed Flying-fox, its conservation status is based not on the numbers of animals in existence, but on the rapid rate of decline in numbers over a relatively short period,” the office’s website said.
For a species to be de-listed, evidence must be provided to show they no longer meet any of the five criteria for listing.
A 2015 report by the CSIRO recommended the species remained, at least, listed as vulnerable due to continuing threats and emerging threats such as “extreme heat”.
Mr Cox said flying fox infestations also will be on the agenda at the next NSW Nationals party room meeting.
“A great number of Nationals MPs represent communities dealing with flying foxes,” he said.
The group posted on its Facebook page and said it had “reached a consensus with Tamworth Regional Council to form a Consultative Committee”.
A spokesperson for council said there had been “no undertaking to form a working group” with the action committee, but there was ongoing discussions.
The group is still circling a petition in Tamworth which Mr Cox said had garnered 3000 signatures.
“That’s our strategy,” he said.
“To be really active in what we’re calling the off-season so we can prepare for their return.
“They are going to return.”