Grey-Headed Flying Fox Case Study

Management of the Grey-Headed Flying Fox (GHFF) in Melbourne areas faces multifaceted issues. In one hand, it is an endangered species based on Victorian and Australian Federal rules. On the other hand, their number tends to increase overtime, with fluctuation occurs seasonally, and their presence have had negative impacts on vegetation including those have historic, cultural, and economic importance (i.e. those in The Royal Botanical Garden and residential areas). Increased numbers of GHFF in urban area like Melbourne results from destruction of their natural habitat and increase of food and water resources in urban areas.
These issues have been addressed by relocating the colony of GHFF from the Garden and the other areas to Yarra Bend
First, the likelihood of relocation of the GHFF colony to an inappropriate location such as the Royal Botanical Garden, as it happened several times. This relocation occurred when The Yarra Bend Park experiences an extreme hot weather. Under that circumstances, the dillema is whether the Garden management should allow the GHFF colony to hang around in the garden or just let the colony remains in the Yarra park with potential loss of a portion of their population. Collabolative action among the stakeholders is important to develop contingency plan for the GHFF colony against such extreme events.
Secondly, maintanace long-term suitability of the current camp sites. Although the current strategies is believed to adequately keep the colony in a portion of 26 ha of th Yarra Bend park, future suitability remains uncertain. Further research is needed to better predict the habitat suitability for the GHFF colony.
Thirdly, minimizing conflict with human. The presence of the GHFF colony can have edverse impacts on the surrounding neighborhood through noise and addors especially during the breeding season. Continue to work closely with the local and wider community may potentially increase their understanding on the GHFF