It is feeding time at the Tolga bat hospital on the Atherton Tablelands, in the hills west of Cairns. Garlands of sliced apples, pears and rockmelon festoon the feeding shelter. High above us, flying foxes are watching, their eyes bright with interest, their ears swivelling like radar dishes. They clamber down and bury their faces in this all-you-can-eat fruit salad. Never have bats been more relatable.
I am on a guided tour of the Queensland hospital led by its founder, Jenny Maclean. The hospital is set on two hectares of land tucked into forested hills. As we stroll among the impossible green of tropical foliage, riflebirds – inky males with iridescent bibs, and females in cinnamon and nutmeg – rustle through the trees. Somewhere in the distance, sulphur-crested cockatoos shriek their arrival, but the most prominent sounds are the chatter and trills of flying foxes.
