DESPERATE residents say they are “prisoners” in their own homes as thousands of flying foxes move out of the Katherine park they have decimated and into their backyards.
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Prior Park was closed last month because of the safety risk the little red flying foxes posed to the public, however, Katherine Town Council is powerless to assist because the intruders are native animals.
Under the Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, Parks and Wildlife Commission NT is responsible for the management of native animals.
Despite the department acknowledging the flying foxes were having a “negative impact on the community” in the vicinity of Prior Park, they were steadfast in their refusal to intervene to move them on.
“Native animals can, from time to time, have a negative impact on the community, and the commission works in partnership with the community and local authorities to help reduce those impacts wherever possible,” a department spokesperson said.
“The [flying foxes] take roost in the Katherine region on an annual basis and cause disturbance, noise and nuisance to the community.
“As is the case every year, the bats will move on … once they have exhausted the local food supplies.”
The stance is providing little consolation for Katherinites living on Prior Court.
One resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were “terrified” to let their children outside after the flying foxes began roosting in their backyard.
“We are prisoners in our own homes,” they said on Monday.
“I am terrified to let the kids play out there in case they get hit with a branch or bitten by a bat.
“Why should we have to wait for the bats to move on when they are ruining our lives?”
Operations manager David Moore said the council was doing all it could to control the situation.
“Council removes the fallen branches and is in regular contact with [PWCNT] but, unfortunately, council is prohibited from interfering with native fauna,” Mr Moore said.
“The park is suffering major damage to mature trees.”
The Prior Court resident told the Katherine Times the flying foxes had made the yard of their family’s rented property unusable.
“There is bat crap everywhere and the smell is totally overwhelming – it makes you gag if you breath while you’re out there,” they said angrily.
“I’m sick of being told that its us that has to twiddle our thumbs until they decide they want to move on.”
Member for Katherine Willem Westra van Holthe said he had been in contact with Parks and Wildlife Minister Bess Price and wanted to see an immediate solution to the “plague proportions” of flying foxes.
“I’m trying currently to pull together government departments and the Katherine Town Council so we … can deal with this problem and find … a way to move these bats on,” he said.
