Students duck for cover as flying fox plague drives parents batty
Students at a NSW high school are being forced to run a gauntlet of bat droppings on their way to and from class everyday, with one parent saying some children had come home covered in excrement.
Edwina Cameron went public with the alleged situation at Maclean High School at Grafton in NSW’s mid north and took to social media to complain about a lack of action after a recent influx of flying foxes.
She told 7 News Online parents feared for the health of their children, who would often have to endure stinking conditions caused by thousands of the unwelcome residents.
“It has become more than a health issue... The stench if overwhelming, especially when it's wet,” she said.
“It scares me that a child will have to become seriously sick before something is done.”
She posted photos to Facebook on Monday of three of her children walking into school with their bags shielding their heads along with shots of the flying foxes in the nearby trees and sky over the school’s car park.
Seven News Online has contacted Maclean High School and the NSW Department of Education and Training for comment.
Ms Cameron said the lack of action seemed to stem from the fact that the bat’s resided on council own land, outside of the schools control.
The school had in the past, she said, conducted dispersal efforts to move the bats on.
They are now back though, and in larger numbers after being driven north by bushfires in the state’s south.
“Teachers and Students live in this environment every day! Lyssavirus, Hendra, salmonella, toxoplasmosis, dead bats, and the overwhelming stench where it takes your breath away!!” Ms Cameron wrote on Facebook above comments from dozens of supporters also demanding action.
Clarence Valley council has established a bat working group to deal with the problem, however, Ms Cameron said the community was now frustrated with its slow progress.
But while many are scared of the risks of lyssavirus or hendra, the president of the Australasian Bat Society said the flying foxes were more nuisance than menance.
Dr Justin Welbergen told 7 News Online the risk of hendra virus was extremely low because it could only be spread from bats to horses and then from horses on to humans.
Lyssavirus presented a more likely risk, however, Dr Welbergen said that virus could not be spread by bat droppings.
He warned anyone around bats that the risk of lyssavirus came from direct contact with bats and said no one should touch the animals, regardless of whether they were dead or alive.
