Why do Flying-foxes want to be near humans?

As humans continue to move into wildlife habitat and clear forested land, animals are increasingly being confronted with urban environments. On one hand urban landscapes can provide wildlife with reliable food supplies but on the other flying-foxes confront problems such as barbed wire/netting entrapment and electrocution. 

As Australian flying-foxes are becoming more urbanised, the noise and droppings from their camps can have an impact on local residents. However while bats are often portrayed as noisy pests, they serve our economic interest by providing irreplaceable pollination and seed dispersal services which maintain the health of our fragmented forests and rainforests. In fact, flying-foxes do this over much larger distances than either birds or insects.

Therefore it is in our interest to manage human-wildlife conflict by using an approach that balances community concerns with environmental needs.