The National Flying-fox Monitoring Program began in 2012 as a collaborative project between government agencies and scientists.

During the day, flying-foxes assemble together in groups, known as camps or roosts. Under the National Flying-fox Monitoring Program, volunteers do quarterly counts at as many of the known camps as possible.

Why we monitor flying-foxes

There are 3 species of flying-foxes in Australia that are at risk of extinction and listed as threatened species under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity and Conservation Act 1999:

  • grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), vulnerable
  • spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus), endangered
  • Christmas Island flying-fox (Pteropus natalis), critically endangered.

The grey-headed flying-fox is the only one of these species that occurs in New South Wales and is listed under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.

Since flying-foxes regularly move between camps, the number of flying-foxes in an area is always changing. Within a year, a camp may go from having thousands of individuals to being completely empty, or vice versa. Having up-to-date information on where large numbers of flying-foxes are helps many people, including residents living near camps, public health officials, the horticultural industry, wind farm operators and airport managers.

Flying-fox monitoring data

The Australian Flying-fox Monitor is an interactive web viewer that displays data from the National Flying-fox Monitoring Program. It has been developed by the Western Sydney University Lab of Animal Ecology, in collaboration with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and other government agencies.

Using the Australian Flying-fox Monitor, you can explore flying-fox camps and the numbers of each species counted over time.

Monitoring data between 2012 and 2022 can also be downloaded from the CSIRO Data Access Portal.

Report a new flying-fox camp

If you're aware of any flying-fox camps not displayed in the Australian Flying-fox Monitor, you can report the camp through the data submission tool.

When you report a flying-fox camp, try to include:

  • where the camp is located, including geographical coordinates
  • how long flying-foxes have been using the site
  • estimated numbers of flying-foxes
  • the species of flying-foxes, if known.

Get involved in flying-fox monitoring

Contact us by emailing [email protected].