Anita Verde, Acro - Bat (ANIMALS 2021)

I photographed this Grey-headed Flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), just down the road from my parent’s family home in Bairnsdale, East Gippsland The population of around 20,000 descended on the town around ten years ago, finding refuge in the trees along the banks of the beautiful Mitchell River. Sadly, not everyone in town understands the value of these important forest gardeners, seeing them as a pest that has reduced the property value of neighboring homes. These bats however are hugely important to healthy forest ecosystems because they pollinate and disperse the seeds of many important tree species. I certainly loved photographing them, even though they aren’t well liked by the locals.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.