Just Accepted

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The first confirmed grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) roost in western New South Wales, Australia

Matthew Mo , Troy Witte, Trevor Bauer, Ray Dayman, Leila Brook, Jason Van Weenen, Sandra Guy

Abstract

The grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) typically occurs within 300 km of the eastern and south-eastern Australian coastline from the mid-coast of Queensland to Adelaide, South Australia. We report the unprecedented occurrence of a grey-headed flying-fox colony in Curlwaa, a semi-arid town in New South Wales (NSW) more than 300 km from the nearest other known roost used by the species. Notably, the colony has been continually occupied since first forming in mid-July 2024, a period of 11 months to date. This roost represents the first confirmed grey-headed flying-fox roost anywhere in the western half of NSW and one of only two colonies of this species known to have persisted in a semi-arid region over a timeframe of months.

AM25014  Accepted 25 June 2025

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