[numinertyuesk]

A lot of people really hate fruit bats. Some of the stuff on the internet is pretty hair raising. I agree that they need protection, they are part of our natural heritage and we are well past the point that we can pick and choose what we protect. Like kangaroos they suffer from not being rare. You are never going to convince people they are rare when there are a dozen in the mango tree and a few thousand in the trees down the road. They have a bad image problem because they steal fruit and crap on people's cars. At least they are rare enough to avoid being culled, kangaroos jump in front of cars and are much too common to protect. Probably in the near future fruit bats will be rare enough to warrant more protection. I remember from my childhood in FNQ there was a colony of bats in the trees on the road to town. They always ate our mangos but people seemed to accept them. I wonder if that colony on the road between Ingam and Victoria Mill still exists. I don't have a solution to the problem in the RBG. The gardens are a much beloved part of Sydney and obviously people want to protect them.