... The National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) on the far north coast of NSW has been involved with issues of flying-fox damage to fruit crops since the early 1980s. Although shooting is an ineffective method of crop protection and is not the one preferred by the majority of fruit growers...

... The NSW government has seen fit to list the Grey Headed Flying-fox (GHFF) as Vulnerable. The listing will limit the ability of fruit growers to protect their crops from damage by this species. The GHFF has been protected by government on behalf of the community. In my submission...

... million per year. Exclusion netting has proven to be the most effective method of protecting fruit crops from flying-foxes. However, concerns regarding the economic viability of netting have prevented its use in areas where market returns are relatively low, such as the Camden district of NSW. To test...

... Orchardists have used electrified grids, which kill or injure flying-foxes, to “protect” fruit crops. In recent years legal challenges to this practice have been mounted on conservation and animal cruelty grounds. A 2001 Federal Court judgement prohibited use of one 6.4km grid because...

... Flying-foxes come into conflict with fruit growers when they raid fruit crops in response to limited native food resources. A standard technique used by fruit growers to deter flying-foxes has been to shoot the animals as they enter the orchard. This activity has been regulated by National Parks...

... to be primary management tools despite their failure either to provide consistent protection to the commercial fruit industry or to resolve conflict at controversial camps. There is an urgent need to develop new approaches to flying-fox management. It is our view that effective methods of on-crop control...

...”; there is a need to both protect flying-fox populations and the crops of fruit growers; and the emergence of Australian Bat Lyssavirus and other viruses has made handling bats a risk. The conservation status of the Grey-headed Flying-fox and the Spectacled Flying-fox is currently being reviewed by the Scientific...

... flying-foxes, then it must recognise the genuine concerns of growers for their livelihoods, subsidise non-lethal modes of protecting crops, and provide support for research into cheaper and more effective means of protection. ...

... methods of deterrence was the presence of non-flying young during summer. Three methods were trialled, including sonic deterrence with a Phoenix Wailer (a crop protection system), olfactory deterrence with python excrement, and taste aversion with prawn paste. Trials with the Phoenix Bat Wailer...