Battle to bust common myth after reports bat 'attacked' wedding guests
The report of a bat disrupting a wedding is not the first time a bat has been accused of 'attacking' people in Australia recently.
Experts are hoping to reassure Australians numerous reports that a bat “attacked” guests at a wedding on Thursday night in NSW are likely unfounded.
While bats have an association with the occult and sucking blood in Europe, the native flying fox seen in a widely shared video is herbivorous and lives off nectar and fruit.
But despite their placid nature, many Australians continue to fear that bats will intentionally savage them and myths about their behaviour continue. Last year, after hungry flying foxes on the Gold Coast flew into new areas in search of food and accidentally collided with humans, it was instead reported they were “attacking”.
Flying foxes can carry dangerous diseases
While mammals infected with rabies have been known to attack humans overseas, this virus does not occur in Australia. But that doesn't mean contact with bats is safe — lyssavirus can cause bats to bite and although transmission to humans is extremely rare in Australia, it has caused three fatalities. For this reason, only vaccinated carers with appropriate training should handle them.
Hendra virus is another zoonotic disease that bats can carry, and on rare occasions, it can be passed to horses and then onto humans.
Flying fox numbers continue to decline
Thursday's incident involved a bat reportedly clutching onto at least six guests during drinks at a Hardy's Bay venue on the NSW Central Coast, with some later seeking medical treatment due to scratches.
While a man in the video describes the animal as "filthy", grey-headed flying foxes are actually fastidiously clean and are known to constantly groom themselves. Humans pose a major threat to the species which is declared vulnerable to extinction because of habitat loss.
Animal advocates are concerned maligning species of bats could lead to many of them eventually becoming extinct.
Rescuers create behaviour theory after analysing flying fox video
Several experienced wildlife rescuers who reviewed video of the bat’s “abnormal behaviour” believe the individual was likely a hand-reared orphan that had been recently released.
“What you’re seeing is a bat flying to a person who has his hand up in midair and it would have gently landed if he hadn’t dropped it,” Kerryn Parry-Jones, a research associate with Sydney University told Yahoo News Australia.
Ms Parry-Jones leads the flying fox program at rescue group Wildlife ARC on the Central Coast. She is one of a number of rescuers across the region eager to dispel a community fear about flying foxes attacking humans. "What we saw is the fault of whoever reared that animal. And we don't know who that is," she said.
What to do if you see an injured flying fox
While major rescue groups ensure orphaned bats do not become habituated to human contact by giving them adequate time to become wild inside large aviaries, they are aware of some smaller organisations that don't follow the same protocols.
"Every year we also get people who raise baby flying foxes without telling anyone that they're not members of organisations," Ms Parry-Jones said. "It can be a big problem, bats landing on humans because they regard them as friends."
Many rescue groups, including Wildlife ARC band the thumbs of the bats they release in order to track their progress, ensuring the methods they use to raise orphans are effective. Should anyone see a bat in need of assistance they should not touch it and instead contact their local rescue group. Anyone scratched or bitten by a bat should seek medical assistance.
The author Michael Dahlstrom is a financial member of Wildlife ARC.
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