Sinister and bloodthirsty? Conservationist Trish Wimberley thinks bats get a bad rap. So each year the director of the Australian Bat Clinic near Brisbane rehabilitates scores of the nocturnal mammals that have been injured by power lines, barbed wire, and poorly installed fruit tree netting.
Australia is home to more than BO bat species, including the flying fox, which is in decline because much of its habitat has been lost to land development. It’s also a target for fruit growers trying to protect crops. Key to koala survival, it laps eucalyptus nectar, then disperses pollen grains up to 60 miles away. That fosters growth of koalas’ main food source.
Wirnberley releases the bats after at least 12 weeks of care but says it’s hard to part with the babies: “They’re like puppies with wings.” Of course, they do display a desire to suck –
pacifiers, that is.

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