On the afternoon of the 6th December, this tiny microbat was taken to Somersby Vets in the Central Coast, with suspected injuries from the bushfires. 

Thankfully, she didn’t have any injuries but she may have been affected by the smoke. With the air so bad across many areas due to hundreds of fires across NSW, WIRES is finding that a lot of animals coming into care are showing signs of smoke related problems.

The little lady is ready to be released soon by her carer, Clare, but to successfully release her we need to know where she came from. To find her home we need to locate the rescuer that found her.

Only 5cms in size, this little lady is an adult East Coast Freetail Bat. These microbats are classed as vulnerable to extinction as their population numbers are decreasing. We rescue and care for microbats and seek to protect them in the wild as they are an essential part of our environment. One of the many ways they help is by eating a lot of insects, inclulding mosquitoes, which helps keep insect populations in check.

Microbats need to be released as close to where they were found as possible, they are very family orientated and studies have found that each group have a different language or dialect from different areas. We have to find her home area to release her as she wouldn't survive on her own.

If you live in, or know anyone in the Somersby Central Coast area, please share the details of this rescue story with them, to help us locate the kind community member that acted to help her.

If you have any information about this rescue, please email support@wires.org.au to let us know.