How far do flying-foxes move during the year?
Flying-fox numbers in a camp increase and decrease throughout the year, depending on the availability of food. The flowering of many species occurs irregularly in different areas and different times of the year, governed mainly by variations in weather. Radio-tracking of Grey-headed flying-foxes found that in 1990 one moved from Grafton to feed on the flowers of spotted gum near Narooma – about 800 km south and another flew from Lismore to Bundaberg in Queensland, about 400 km to feed on lemon-scented gum. Hand-reared juvenile flying-foxes were tracked between Gordon, Sydney Botanic Gardens and Cabramatta Creek and some found 310 km north and 279 km south in April and May. Augee M and Ford D (1999) Radio-tracking Studies of Grey-headed Flying-foxes, Pteropus poliocephalus, from the Gordon Colony, Sydney. A minimum distance of 978 km was recorded when one was marked on the thumb by a numbered band and released in Lismore on 31/8/91 and was reported electrocuted at Bombala on 12/2/92. By
