Work was underway on Tuesday to eradicate thousands of bats from the Australian town of Batemans Bay, in New South Wales, with local government officials labelling the situation as a “state of emergency,’ local media reported.
There are more than 100,000 bats that made their home in the coastal town south of Sydney, creating problems for local residents, according to local media.
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The New South Wales state government says it will commit about US $1.8 million to help the local council disperse the bats, known as grey-headed flying foxes.
The bats are officially considered vulnerable species and their dispersing must be non-lethal, according to local media.
Some of the ideas being considered are smoke, noise and clearing the vegetation, local media reported.
Animal rights groups say this will not work and are calling for patience and time to enable to bats to move on.