Pictures: Child flying foxes at Australia’s bat hospital in Queensland

[ad_1] FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND, Australia — Australia is famously a spot with among the world’s most harmful and scary animals. Venomous spiders. Lethal snakes. Jellyfish with deadly stings.

However it is usually dwelling to one of many world’s cutest: the flying fox, also called the enormous fruit bat. I imply, take a look at this animal.

It is a child bat taking a bubble bathtub. If it doesn’t soften your coronary heart, nothing will.

In northeastern Australia, not removed from the coastal metropolis of Cairns, is a spot referred to as Tolga Bat Hospital. It's, as its identify suggests, a hospital for bats — one of many solely such amenities on the planet. And it’s additionally one of many few locations you may see a child bat getting a bubble bathtub.

The hospital, which has only one full-time paid worker however a cadre of volunteers, has been treating bats for greater than 30 years. It contains a number of small buildings with therapy rooms, chilly storage for fruit, and a nursery for orphan bats, in addition to a number of outside wire enclosures. The biggest cage is akin to a long-term care facility; it’s for bats that may now not fly and can dwell out their lives on the hospital.

<img alt="A hospital volunteer carries bats that were recently microchipped into a flight cage for flight practice, where they’ll live before they’re released back into the wild." data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15984.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> A hospital volunteer carries bats that had been just lately microchipped right into a flight cage for flight observe, the place they’ll dwell earlier than they’re launched again into the wild. Harriet Spark for Vox

<img alt="A view of the large enclosure home to flying foxes that have severe injuries and cannot fly. They’ll spend their lives at the hospital." data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15734-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> A view of the big enclosure dwelling to flying foxes which have extreme accidents and can't fly. They’ll spend their lives on the hospital. Harriet Spark for Vox

Tolga Bat Hospital cares for as many as 1,000 bats a 12 months, the majority of that are spectacled flying foxes, an endangered species and one among 4 distinct sorts of flying foxes in mainland Australia. They arrive in with illness, warmth stress, or accidents from barbed wire. The hospital additionally cares for a whole bunch of child spectacleds — named for the lighter fur round their eyes that makes it appear to be they’re sporting glasses — which have misplaced their moms and may’t survive on their very own.

On a heat afternoon in December, I visited the hospital with Australian photographer Harriet Spark. We met plenty of cute bats — they usually had been exhausting to not love. Flying foxes are furry with expressive eyes, giant ears, and a dog-like snout. But it surely was the hospital founder and director, Jenny Mclean, whom I discovered much more endearing.

“You meet a bat, they usually’re value caring about,” Mclean, 71, informed me that afternoon, as she fed a sick grownup bat fruit juice from a syringe. “They've critical threats that they’re dealing with, all of them human-induced.”

<img alt="Jenny Mclean, Tolga Bat Hospital founder and director, holds an endangered spectacled flying fox." data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16319.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> Jenny Mclean, Tolga Bat Hospital founder and director, holds an endangered spectacled flying fox. Harriet Spark for Vox

Mclean, who works across the clock on the hospital and doesn’t pay herself, stated she feels a duty to assist these creatures — not solely as a result of they’re struggling at our expense however as a result of they assist preserve our planet wholesome. Flying foxes are exceptionally good at pollinating vegetation and dispersing their seeds , Mclean stated.

Giving again to those animals indirectly, she stated, is the least we will do.

Why Australia’s flying foxes want a hospital

The nursery is a small, two-story constructing with a verandah that appears out onto the luxurious grounds of the hospital. Many of the infants had been exterior after we visited, hanging with their ft on a number of mesh metallic cabinets. Spectacled flying foxes are monumental: These animals had been about 2 months outdated and already football-sized. By the point they develop up, their wingspan may attain greater than three ft.

<img alt="" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15781.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400"/> Volunteer Mia Mathur stares at an orphan spectacled flying fox on the nursery at Tolga Bat Hospital. Harriet Spark for Vox

<img alt="" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16008.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400"/> The hospital buys used stuffed animals for the bats to cling to. Harriet Spark for Vox

<img alt="" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15826.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400"/> On the hospital it’s commonplace to see folks strolling round with flying foxes clinging to them. Harriet Spark for Vox

The bats, nonetheless too younger to fly, hung the other way up, wrapped in their very own wings, alongside stuffed animals. The stuffies, which Mclean buys from a neighborhood secondhand retailer, are supposed to mimic mom bats, and the infants will typically cling to them for consolation, Mclean informed me. Among the bats had been ingesting from bottles of flying fox system connected to the cabinets.

Even youthful bats had been in a room contained in the constructing. Infants underneath one week are saved in an incubator as a result of they've bother regulating their physique temperature. Barely older infants are saved in plastic bins with heating pads and socks that they'll cling to. For feeding, “field infants” are swaddled in material round a small rectangular pillow so their wings are contained — forming child bat burritos. Just a few had silicon pacifiers of their mouths.

<img alt="Some of the orphans suckle on pacifiers, which makes the animals easier to handle." data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15884-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> Among the orphans suckle on pacifiers, which makes the animals simpler to deal with. Harriet Spark for Vox

<img alt="A wide-eyed baby flying fox wrapped in a yellow blanket" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16353.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> An toddler flying fox wrapped and ready to be fed. Harriet Spark for Vox

<img alt="" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15615-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400"/> Mathur, the volunteer, feeds a younger bat with a syringe of store-bought flying fox toddler system. Harriet Spark for Vox

<img alt="" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15657.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.039032006245115%2C100%2C99.92193598751&w=2400"/> When the orphans are a bit older, they drink from milk bottles on their very own. Harriet Spark for Vox

Almost all of those orphans misplaced their mothers to Australian paralysis ticks: parasites that carry a potent neurotoxin of their saliva. When paralysis ticks chunk bats and different animals with out pure immunity, such as pet cats and dogs , the bugs can, as their identify suggests, trigger paralysis and, finally, coronary heart failure.

Throughout tick season, which generally runs from October to December, hospital staff search the bottom beneath colonies, or “camps,” for contaminated bats, which regularly fall out of bushes. If the an infection is gentle, staff deal with the animal with an anti-toxin on the hospital. The infants, in the meantime, are sometimes spared from paralysis. Moms probably choose up ticks whereas they’re foraging with out their younger, Mclean stated, and the parasites latch on earlier than they've an opportunity to crawl onto the infants. That results in an abundance of orphans in want of care.

Paralysis ticks dwell all across eastern Australia , however they solely appear to have an effect on spectacled flying foxes within the Atherton Tablelands, the place the hospital is situated, Mclean informed me. The reason being nonetheless a thriller. One rationalization, Mclean stated, is that spectacleds on this area feed on the berries of an invasive shrub referred to as wild tobacco, the place they encounter the ticks. Whereas the plant grows in different elements of Australia the place each ticks and flying foxes are discovered, Mclean stated, the moist local weather of the Tablelands might make ticks extra prone to enterprise out of the grass and into the branches of the invasive shrub. That’s the place the flying foxes feed.

<img alt="Tolga Bat Hospital is in a lush part of Queensland and flanked by forest." data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16214.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> Tolga Bat Hospital is in a lush a part of Queensland and flanked by forest. Harriet Spark for Vox

<img alt="Orphan spectacled flying foxes hang from a wire frame outside the nursery." data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-15648.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> Orphan spectacled flying foxes dangle from a wire body exterior the nursery. Harriet Spark for Vox

That afternoon, I adopted Mclean into the primary hospital constructing, the place she treats grownup bats with paralysis. Rows of small metallic cages and material bins sat on cabinets alongside the wall. In among the enclosures, giant flying foxes hung calmly from the highest, whereas in others, the animals — nonetheless dealing with the consequences of paralysis — had been mendacity down.

Utilizing a towel, Mclean gently grabbed one of many bats from its cage to see if it could eat. The animal was having bother swallowing, Mclean informed me, as she positioned a syringe with apple and mango juice in its mouth. The bat took a number of sips after which pulled its head away. Mclean moved it right into a small plastic bin for plan B: seeing if the animal would eat a small piece of pear as an alternative. The bat started to chew, however then spat it out. “You haven't bought a superb swallow, my woman,” Mclean stated.

Tick paralysis is simply one of many threats to Australia’s flying foxes, lots of that are getting worse. Little reds, one other species, get tangled in barbed wire, inflicting tears of their wings. Spectacleds within the Tablelands, in the meantime, are more and more born with cleft palate syndrome (for causes that aren't but clear), which makes it exhausting for them to feed. And extra just lately, extreme warmth waves tied to climate change have decimated flying fox populations. In 2018, unrelenting warmth killed about 23,000 spectacled flying foxes in Far North Queensland, nearly a third of your complete inhabitants. Mclean says she obtained about 500 orphans that 12 months from the warmth wave alone.

Nonetheless, these animals lack assist — they’re “maligned,” Mclean stated — particularly in comparison with koalas and different furry animals in Australia. “There aren't that many individuals who will champion them,” she informed me.

<img alt="Thousands of little red flying foxes leave their roost at sunset to find food near Tolga Bat Hospital in Far North Queensland." data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-26101.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> Hundreds of little crimson flying foxes depart their roost at sundown to search out meals close to Tolga Bat Hospital in Far North Queensland. Harriet Spark for Vox

<img alt="a smiling woman with white hair and glasses reaches up to touch a bat that’s hanging upside down from the ceiling of a cage. Other bats and stuffed animals are also hanging there" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Must-Credit-Harriet-Spark-16061.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400"/> Mclean checks in on an orphan spectacled flying fox. Harriet Spark for Vox

Bats have a foul rap, partially, as a result of they'll carry ailments. Flying foxes aren't any exception — in uncommon circumstances, they'll carry Australian bat lyssavirus, a relative of rabies. What will get much less consideration is the truth that people nearly by no means contract a illness from flying foxes. “We get a few thousand sick and injured bats a 12 months, and we get a lyssavirus bat as soon as each three years,” Mclean stated. (Staff at Tolga Bat Hospital get vaccinated earlier than dealing with bats as a security precaution.)

In the end, flying foxes aren't an actual risk to people, she stated. Disproportionately, people hurt them. “It’s this entire factor of, are we keen to share the planet or not?” she stated. “If you happen to’re not keen to share the planet, you will destroy the planet.”

If flying foxes proceed to vanish, so will important providers like pollination and seed dispersal that preserve forests alive, Mclean informed me. “You may’t have a wholesome particular person except you’ve bought wholesome wildlife and a wholesome atmosphere.”