The aim of the program is to establish a reliable baseline estimate of the flying fox populations and over time to estimate trends. This will take a number of years since each quarterly count will be subject to various factors which will influence the results, making assessment of population size more difficult. A report reviewing the data from the first phase of the program can be viewed at the Australian Government Department of the Environment’s website at This analysis suggests that while the GHFF population appears to be at approximately 700,000 individuals, the population of the SFF has declined by as much as 50% over the last decade to approximately 100,000 individuals. In order to achieve the best possible estimate it is important that surveys are performed using the methods correctly. We are continuing to conduct training sessions and the CSIRO urges any counters who have any questions or concerns about count methodology to contact David Westcott at or Adam McKeown at Thank you to all the counters who put in the hours to assist the program. Your effort is greatly appreciated. If you would like to participate please contact: New South Wales – Queensland — If you know of additional camps or have questions about the counts please contact: or Additional information about the program can be found at: The National Flying-fox Monitoring Program is collaboration between the Australian Government, the South Australian, Victorian, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland governments, CSIRO, local governments and volunteers in New South Wales and Queensland. The CSIRO was contracted by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation to undertake this research project. This research was funded by the Commonwealth of Australia, the State of New South Wales, the State of Queensland and RIRDC under the National Hendra Virus Research Program.
The aim of the program is to establish a reliable baseline estimate of the flying fox populations and over time to estimate trends. This will take a number of years since each quarterly count will be subject to various factors which will influence the results, making assessment of population size more difficult. A report reviewing the data from the first phase of the program can be viewed at the Australian Government Department of the Environment’s website at This analysis suggests that while the GHFF population appears to be at approximately 700,000 individuals, the population of the SFF has declined by as much as 50% over the last decade to approximately 100,000 individuals. In order to achieve the best possible estimate it is important that surveys are performed using the methods correctly. We are continuing to conduct training sessions and the CSIRO urges any counters who have any questions or concerns about count methodology to contact David Westcott at or Adam McKeown at Thank you to all the counters who put in the hours to assist the program. Your effort is greatly appreciated. If you would like to participate please contact: New South Wales – Queensland — If you know of additional camps or have questions about the counts please contact: or Additional information about the program can be found at: The National Flying-fox Monitoring Program is collaboration between the Australian Government, the South Australian, Victorian, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland governments, CSIRO, local governments and volunteers in New South Wales and Queensland. The CSIRO was contracted by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation to undertake this research project. This research was funded by the Commonwealth of Australia, the State of New South Wales, the State of Queensland and RIRDC under the National Hendra Virus Research Program.
flying-fox-nov2016-count-report.docx