Bats of Adelaide City - Rescue, Rehabilitation, Conservation and Education

09/07/2026

Are your kids just hanging around these school holidays while you're bat-eling to keep them occupied?

Our friends at The Australasian Bat Society can help you out with a whole page dedicated to bat related activities for kids. 🦇

New 'bativities' and colouring in materials! Make your very own bat finger puppets and masks , complete the maze to help the bat get back to it's roost, and colour in some of our much loved native...

06/02/2026

04/02/2026

🦇Bat Heat Stress Event Update🦇

Summer can be a tough time for our wildlife and the wildlife rescue organisations who care for them.

While last week was a tough week for Fauna Rescue SA, we fared significantly better than our friends at Limestone Coast Wombat & Bat Rescue who sadly lost almost their entire colony. We are so saddened by this news and our hearts go out to our fellow rescuers and carers in the South East.

17 juvenile bats from Limestone Coast Wombat & Bat Rescue have joined the Fauna Rescue SA creche to assist with this catastrophe.

26/01/2026

Fauna Rescue SA's Bat Team has a flying fox emergency triage tent set up on-site throughout this heatwave 🦇☀️🦇. Please follow Green Adelaide's advisory.

If you see struggling bats on or near the ground, please call the Fauna Rescue SA Bat Hotline on 8486 1139.

Thank you 🙏

Give our bats space in the heat, and remember to never touch a bat 🦇 ☀️

This weekend’s hot weather can be challenging for our resident grey-headed flying foxes.

Unfortunately, grey-headed flying-foxes struggle with extreme heat, which makes this threatened species vulnerable during our summer heatwaves.

You might see bats hanging closer to water sources, such as the River Torrens, in the warmer weather. Give them space, and try to avoid the area.

But if you do find a bat in distress, it is important to contact a wildlife rescue operation, and not try to approach or handle the bat yourself. All bat species, including the grey-headed flying fox, are potential carriers of disease. It is safest not to touch them.

Instead, you can call Fauna Rescue’s 24 hour helpline on 8486 1139 or Bat Rescue on 0475 132 093.

23/01/2026

Adelaide's visiting and resident Grey-headed flying fox, a protected key-stone species, will be suffering another catastrophic Heat Stress Event (HSE) during the current heatwave.

Fauna Rescue SA Bat Team members will be on-site daily at Botanic Park, where specially-installed canopy sprinklers will be utilised in an attempt to mitigate mass mortalities.

In HSEs, flying fox, like koalas, naturally move into shadier areas and lower to the ground, seeking relief from the searing hot temperatures and winds. They are frightened and greatly disturbed by people, loud noises or vehicles moving underneath them and can fly up in distress, thus endangering them further due to unnecessary overheating.

When temperatures lower, the bats return to their usual roosting spots higher up in the trees.
Please keep these sensitive native creatures and the dedicated rescuers and carers in your thoughts over the coming days.

If you see bats roosting in trees, please give them a wide berth.

If you see any bats very close to or on the ground, please don't touch them. Stand back and call an experienced vaccinated rescuer for prompt assistance - Fauna Rescue SA Bat Hotline 24/7 on 8486 1139.

Thank you 🙏🏼

Volunteers found thousands of dead bats at Melbourne’s Brimbank park, wildlife expert says

09/11/2025

Request from our Flying-fox & Microbat Team

As we approach the season when flying-foxes unfortunately get caught in netting on fruit trees that isn’t wildlife friendly, our wonderful vet, Dr Trudy Seidel from Para Hills Vets, who treats and saves the lives of many of the Flying-foxes that come into our care, could make use of any Tegaderm that could be donated to us (out of date stock from hospitals is fine). Tegaderm is used on injuries to the wings of flying-foxes to keep wing membranes supple and assist with healing. If anybody can help, it would be much appreciated.

Collection can be arranged.

Many thanks, Fauna Rescue Flying-fox Team

31/10/2025

Tommy’s Release

A beautiful day for Tommy to fly free to rejoin his friends at the colony today.

One of our rescuers received a call from Shane, one of our hotline operators, one evening with a report of a bat on the ground in Norwood. Tommy was found on the pavement outside a house, opposite a small park area, convulsing and not in a good way at all. After looking around, it was discovered there were no power lines in the area, so not an electrocution. The rescuer immediately contacted Dr Trudy Seidel from Para Hills Vets, who could see him straight away. After examining him, he was diagnosed with a head injury, which was also affecting his ability to coordinate movement. Tommy stayed in the care of Trudy overnight and the following day and was very spoilt with regular hand-syringed juice!
When he was collected by the carer, he had improved greatly but still had uncoordinated mobility. After a couple of days, he was eagerly feeding himself, and over a couple of weeks, gradually his movements returned to normal.
Tommy is still a juvenile and must have been born as late as April this year. We suspect he must have had a hefty collision with something unknown to have caused the significant head injury.
Have a great life, Tommy!
Many thanks to Trudy for being there to help with so many of our rescues and to Michelle, the member of the public who reported Tommy in difficulty. 💕

If you find a bat alive or deceased
PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE BAT 🦇
Call the Fauna Rescue 24hr hot line: 8486 1139
and one of our vaccinated rescuers will attend to assist.
Any bat seen away from the colony during the day is in trouble and currently, during birthing season, a bat found on power lines could possibly have a live young attached, so please call with a location.