Sydney, Nov 14 (AFP) Dozens of rare grey-headed flyingfoxes have been shot in remote bushland near Australia'seastern coast, authorities said today as locals told of a"horrific scene" when the carcasses were discovered.
The alleged killings followed a spate of animalmutilations in Victoria state involving native speciesincluding the kangaroo, wallaby and koala.
The flying fox, Australia's largest bat, is listed as a"vulnerable" species nationally with its survival ranked as a"critical priority" under local laws.
Rescuer Sammy Ringer said she was alerted to the deathslast week when a local resident in Conondale, a small town inthe south of Queensland state, heard some shots being fired.
"As we got further into the colony, there was a prettyhorrendous smell of bats that had been shot previously," shetold the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Tuesday.
"They had been lying on the ground for maybe a week ortwo."Ringer, leading a small group of people into the bush,said it was a "horrific scene" and "we kept coming across moredead bats".
The rescuers tried to help baby bats whose mothers hadbeen killed but only two were able to be saved, she added.
The state's environment and heritage protectiondepartment said it was investigating the incident, adding thatit was illegal to kill flying foxes in Queensland without alicence.
The maximum penalty for killing 10 or more grey-headedflying foxes is Aus$126,150 (USD 96,000) or a year behindbars, the department added.
The RSPCA's Queensland branch said up to 50 bats werebelieved to have been killed, adding it was involved in theinvestigation as there was "considerable suffering" for thebats before they died.
"We are talking about obviously animals that weren'tkilled instantly. There were babies that were still alive withdead mothers," RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty told AFP.
"People need to be aware that the flying foxes areprotected... without flying foxes there would be nopollination in the forests."(AFP)AMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.