Tamworth flying fox camp settles back in at Peel River, numbers appear to be reduced

So far 9,275 of the grey-headed and little red flying foxes have made Tamworth home in May.

Numbers swelled to 170,000 in a year in 2017.

Craig Cox was a member of the now defunct Flying Fox Action Group that aimed to have the mammal removed from the threatened species list last year.

"The quality of life for those people is just diabolical when they're at their peak.

"It's a little bit quieter this year because they haven't been breeding in such high numbers because of the drought.

"We fought a good battle for some time but they are still on the vulnerable species list which means they can't be touched, moved or messed with."

Tamworth Regional Council offers a 50 per cent subsidy to some residents to help pay for car or clothesline covers and to remove exotic trees.

The largest camp in the region is the Peel River camp, it had more than 100,000 flying foxes living in it in May 2017.

For residents affected by the camps, the council has suggested bringing washing in before dusk, putting cars in garages or covering them, using a pool cover, bringing outdoor furniture under shelter and trying not to disturb them as it will make the colony noisier.

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Health risks can be avoided by not handling flying foxes, an Office of Environment and Heritage spokeswoman said.

"Human infections with viruses borne by flying-foxes are rare and there is no risk to human health from flying-foxes so long as common-sense precautions are taken," she said.

"The grey-headed flying-fox is listed as vulnerable under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 because their numbers have rapidly declined over a relatively short period of time."

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