Featured Post

THIS IS WHAT I DO

Barbed wire | Rescue | THIS IS WHAT I DO checking barbed wire in my own time. volunteer.

NSW bat plague: firefighters extinguish suspicious blaze at Cessnock bat camp


A deliberately lit fire had the potential to burn up to 30,000 bats alive in Cessnock as anger among residents reaches breaking point.

Firefighters were called to the camp behind East Cessnock Primary School – a hotspot in the region-wide bat plague – about 11.30pm on Saturday night.

The fire was contained before damaging property or injuring wildlife, The Newcastle Herald reports.

Hunter Wildlife Rescue disaster co-ordinator Audrey Koosmen was horrified by what she saw.

Ms Koosmen said firefighters and wildlife volunteers were threatened by residents as the fire was extinguished.

"Somebody has had the hide to burn the bats," she said.

"The sad part about this is some residents around the area were abusive to the firemen who were just doing their job.

"We had to call the police in because we were being threatened."

Ms Koosmen acknowledged that patience with the bats – situated just metres from property – was being tested, but urged affected residents to exercise self-control.

"Emotion is running very high – I can understand that – but I'm really concerned for people who are going around doing this sort of action because it may come back and bite them," she said.

"If that blaze had taken off last night, it could have burnt the school down.

"It could have taken homes."

Fearing the fire was just the tip of the iceberg, Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon pleaded with authorities to act on the scourge.

"I warned something like this would happen," he said.

"The last thing we want is people starting to take the law into their own hands and we need to act now."

Ms Koosmen said pregnant little red flying foxes, along with grey-haired flying foxes, were roosting at the Cessnock site.

"Burning these animals alive is not the right thing to do," she said.

"We're hoping they will move on soon."

Residents who live near the bats have reported health problems, reduced quality of living and damage to property.

COMMENTS

BLOGGER
Name

Articles,51,Audio,23,Backyard,24,Barbed Wire,35,Bat Art,56,Bat Books,94,Bat Box,27,Bat Clothing,16,Bat Issues,642,Bat Stamps,1,Bats,4,Bats for Children,39,Bats for the Home,70,Electrocution,9,Events,39,info on bats,643,Jackie Sparrow,26,Microbats,469,Misc,121,Netting,40,Newsletter,5,Promoting,152,Rehab,92,Rehab 2011,7,Rehab 2012,25,Rehab 2013,15,Rehab 2014,6,Rehab 2015,108,Rehab 2016,136,Rehab 2017,73,Rehab 2018,29,Rehab 2019,2,Release Cage,2,RESCUE,74,Rescue 2011,1,Rescue 2012,7,RESCUE 2013,18,RESCUE 2014,8,RESCUE 2015,25,Rescue 2016,20,RESCUE 2017,16,Rescue 2018,10,Rescue 2019,6,Rob Mies,11,Shooting,2,Vegetation,27,Video,399,Virus,128,WebSites-Bat,45,
ltr
item
BatsRule!: NSW bat plague: firefighters extinguish suspicious blaze at Cessnock bat camp
NSW bat plague: firefighters extinguish suspicious blaze at Cessnock bat camp
NSW bat plague: firefighters extinguish suspicious blaze at Cessnock bat camp
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DoABlg1WAQQPgScgDmN3DBJhij-zO-CujZovPy2J8HKUbnj_pjAXxIaRTVB5TW66nLKRQOhonYfppySQM6xRacQEVdm0IOjlhVhCX3fuDqVGSEcUghrE4BWx0vsY0wArwiVCTX67v2w/s1600/NSW+bat+plague+firefighters+extinguish+suspicious+blaze+at+Cessnock+bat+camp.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DoABlg1WAQQPgScgDmN3DBJhij-zO-CujZovPy2J8HKUbnj_pjAXxIaRTVB5TW66nLKRQOhonYfppySQM6xRacQEVdm0IOjlhVhCX3fuDqVGSEcUghrE4BWx0vsY0wArwiVCTX67v2w/s72-c/NSW+bat+plague+firefighters+extinguish+suspicious+blaze+at+Cessnock+bat+camp.jpg
BatsRule!
http://batsrule-helpsavewildlife.blogspot.com/2016/11/nsw-bat-plague-firefighters-extinguish.html
http://batsrule-helpsavewildlife.blogspot.com/
http://batsrule-helpsavewildlife.blogspot.com/
http://batsrule-helpsavewildlife.blogspot.com/2016/11/nsw-bat-plague-firefighters-extinguish.html
true
4238281482117672351
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Readmore Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share to a social network STEP 2: Click the link on your social network Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy