The epic adventures of ‘Fig’ the fruit bat. 

by Melissa McLay & Charlotte Read

For Fig’s sake! What the Fig is going on?

In 2023, articles were published showcasing there were flowers blooming in Antarctica. It became a catch phrase on social media platforms for the dire situation of the global climate crisis. In 2024, another event took place not far from Antarctica that could be seen as another canary in the coalmine for the climate. Or maybe chiropteran in the coalmine.

Not too far from the icy climes of Antarctica a different and yet similarly resonant event happened in Koonya at the Southeastern part of mainland Tasmania. A Grey Headed Flying Fox was found entangled and blast-beruffled in an apple tree by local orchard farmer Dave MacDonald after his dog alerted him with vociferous barking. 

Enter Fig.

Somehow the little guy had blown off course in search of food and habitat, caught by the winds of Bass Strait, and made the almost impossible journey from Victoria’s Yarra Bend to Tasmania’s Koonya, an epic trek of 851 kilometres southward and vastly outside of his normal habitat. At an average speed of 30 km/hour, the top speed for his species, this would have taken at least 28 hours nonstop. Unless he rested at off-course islands like Muttonbird or Lourah islands, or maybe even boats or bouys, he would have had to fly at least 500 kilometres without a break. Individual flying foxes can fly up to 50 km in a single night to find food like nectar and fruit and are known to take long nomadic flights that take up to a year. But not in one go and certainly not nearly a thousand kilometres outside of their normal habitat. 

It was the first time in history that a mainland bat had been seen as far south in Tasmania.

Affectionately dubbed Fig the Fruit Bat, he became something of a Tassie celebrity as the first known fruit bat to grace the Apple Isle. Although native to mainland Australia, they’ve been steadily moving southwards, especially nursing mothers, due to habitat, food and pollen destruction — a three-step forward and two step-back dance in search of food and in defiance of rising temperatures; often unable to make it back to established colonies. 

Poor Fig.

Taken in by local conservationists, Fig was later given a first-class seat in the Qantas cargo hold to return to Tamsyn Hogarth’s Victorian-based Fly By Night Bat Clinic in the Dandenong Ranges. Tamsyn cared for Fig in Olinda, along with a clutch of rather attractive and extraverted single lady bats (you can see them dancing together here ), for several months until he was well enough for a soft release back at his old stomping ground, Yarra Bend. No doubt, if conditions hadn’t changed, he probably thought he’d have to do that bloody Tassie trip all over again! 

Tamsyn says fruit bats, or more correctly the Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), become nomadic in response to factors like extreme weather pattern changes, climate change, bushfires, deforestation of natural food sources and stress. Extreme weather events and rising heat in southern states of Australia like South Australia and Victoria can see thousands of flying foxes die from extreme dry heat exposure — presaging in some cases mass die-offs that threaten colony collapse. Most are nursing mothers with babies attached and nursing. Extreme winds and storms also throw them out of trees, into powerlines and farm netting, and off course from the safety of their colonies. The past few years have seen a spike in heat die-offs and high wind casualties, sending bats into colder climes where they sometimes have pups presenting with the opposite extreme, frost bite. 

Fig, through his dramatic migration last year, has highlighted key issues in bat conservation, who are now listed as ‘vulnerable’ under the EPBC Act.

“What many people do not know,” Tamsyn explains, “is that our fruit bats in Australia serve a similar role to bees, nocturnally pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds, and annually migrating through ecosystems for mating and changing weather patterns.” 

We all know how important bees are to the ecosystem — yet bats do not always receive the same warm welcome in many places due to stigma, though they are just as vital to the health of our natural world. There is a reason they have a superhero named after them, after all.

Another issue that highlights climate change is that the breeding season is earlier than previous years. Pup season is usually in October but breeding patterns have quickly altered and pup births are happening much sooner than expected, with nursing mothers and pups increasingly rescued and rehabilitated for future release

Recent bushfire events like the 2019/20 megafires saw most areas affected, and this profoundly impacted the delicate ecosystem supporting colonies. For example, the east coast of Australia was one of the main areas for blue gum blossoms which can take up to four years to blossom again after fires. This wiped out a major food source for four years, forcing the Flying foxes to migrate in search of food. As a consequence, a new pattern of migration arose where they are cutting through central NSW heading west, usually uncharted territory and in areas where extreme dry heat is regular but dire to the species. They have nowhere else to go. 

And as they travel unfamiliar areas, another source of life-threatening stress is farm netting, says Tamsyn.

“Netting of fruit trees is contributing factor of fatal injuries that are contributing to their plight because it causes extensive wing damage. This is because tearing of the thin and delicate skin membrane of their wings is almost always unrepairable. It’s a death sentence.”
Despite the rising rate of colony collapse, Tamsyn is disappointed by the lack of concern by CSIRO and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA).

In March 2024, CSIRO released a paper stating that ten years of monitoring suggested the flying fox population was actually stable! Tamsyn firmly disagrees and worries that the paper unintentionally signals that we can rest on our laurels when it comes to grey headed flying foxes and the other three macro bats native to Australia. With waning support and funds from government, this leaves native bat conservation mainly driven by the compassion and concerns of the volunteer network and public — people like Tamsyn. 

A lack of concern by ministers seems to come from bad publicity from media and NIMBY residents who portray the bats as a suburban pest and a menace to agriculture without understanding the vital role they play to the greater ecosystem. This is partly historical.

In the 80’s bats took to colonizing the Melbourne Botanical Gardens due to destruction of their habitat by suburban sprawl. As their numbers grew in urban areas, so did the complaints by inner-city NIMBYs. Various and ineffective methods such as dog whistles, bin banging, and pepper spraying of trees all failed to make them move. The Victorian Government and The Botanical Gardens decided a cull was their next step. A battle between conservationists and government took place with the State Government having to find a more holistic approach to moving the colony. It was 2001 that the use of loudspeakers was able to deter them from roosting in the area and to encourage them to move to their new home in Yarra Bend. 

Yet from this short-term solution emerged a resistance to funding further work, to the extent that next to no funding is now offered towards proper research and rehabilitation.

Tamsyn also mentions that any critique of tree netting by DEECA is mainly related to their impact on native birds like lorikeets, which are more marketable and a far ‘cuter’ species. Tamsyn suggests that mainstream and previous negative narratives of the flying foxes being a pest, or carriers of disease, has had a lamentable and permanent effect on this beautiful species’ reputation.

She pointed out, however, that without bats more beloved Australian species likes koalas would be severely threatened as it’s the flying fox that pollinates the gums that are vital food resources for koalas and a host of other species. If bats fail, it becomes a ripple effect throughout an already stressed and delicate ecosystem.

As Fig assumed the role of trailblazer, he has finally reignited questions and concerns from researchers and the public alike. Fig’s migration reverberates with profound ecological implications, hinting at the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the forced adaptations wildlife are making in the face of environmental shifts. The first time such concerns were collectively explored — the slower southward migration across myriad species — was in Tim Flannery’s seminal 1994 book The Future Eaters. Now we see the same effects in more dramatic journeys. 

Such a vast journey may be inexplicable when investigating normal bat behaviour and migration routes — however Fig’s rare journey hints at an even greater catalyst behind his motivations to go so far South. It begs the question: what hidden threats face our wildlife in an age of accelerating climate change and what threats therefore face us?

Despite rising threats from other global geopolitical issues, climate change remains this era’s most prevalent threat to biodiversity on Earth, including humanity. Our actions as a species do not align with the survival of the planet, and our duty of care has been called out as lacking. Regarding climate change in Australia, the country has been experiencing significant impacts due to rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events. These changes have led to challenges such as prolonged droughts, increased bushfire activity, and utterly dystopian threats to biodiversity.

Such challenges force our wildlife into extreme conditions, including pushing a tired fruit bat to the southernmost regions of the globe. Our unique mainland Australian ecosystems have become threatened with increasing rates of megafires, severe storms, altered rainfall patterns, devastation of trophic levels through extinction — all putting entire ecologies out of balance. A changing climate spells possible extinction for many species. Let us hope this will not mean the same for our beloved night bees — the fruit bats.

Want a video of Fig at Fly By Night Bat Clinic?

Melissa McLay and Charlotte Read interview Tamsin Hogarth, head of ‘Fly by Night Bat Clinic’, on the climate implications of the history-breaking flight of ‘Fig’ the Fruit Bat from mainland Australia to Tasmania. Echoes of Tim Flannery on the steady southward march of species to escape climate change.