Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

Town Overrun By 500,000 Bats Finds Amazing Solution

The tiny Australian town of Ingham with a human population under 5,000 people faced an unbelievable problem when over 500,000 flying foxes took over the town center, forcing schools to close, businesses to shut down, and even preventing emergency helicopters from landing at the hospital. These large fruit bats are protected in Australia because they’re important pollinators and seed dispersers just like bees, so the mayor couldn’t just get rid of them even though residents were begging him to do something drastic. The flying foxes had completely destroyed the beloved Botanical Gardens and war memorial with their droppings, stripped trees bare, and created such a horrible smell that nobody could use the central park or bus stops near elementary schools. Mayor Ramon Jayo refused to harm the animals and instead spent $195,000 hiring Biodiversity Australia, a company run by expert Steven Noy who specializes in peacefully convincing wildlife to move somewhere better. Noy and his team spent three months carefully studying the bats to understand their behavior and figure out exactly where they would go if given the right push at the right time.

When the big day came, the team used drums, saucepans, pyrotechnics with smoke and bright lights at 4 am to create enough noise and confusion that the flying foxes decided to find quieter places to live. The bats moved to nearby wetlands, beaches and mountains where they could still find plenty of food without bothering anyone, and the town finally got its parks and gardens back after years of dealing with the overwhelming colony. Five years later the town still spends $2,000 per month on daily dawn patrols that bang drums if any scout bats try returning, because the older generation remembers their old home and might convince younger bats to move back if nobody stops them.

PrevPreviousCalifornia’s Plastic Bag Ban Finally Shows Major Results
NextAnimals On Kangaroo Island Thrive AgainNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

Communities Across America Are Banning AI Data Centers And The Number Just Jumped From 8 To 78

May 10, 2026

According to the U.S. Data Center Moratorium Tracker, communities across the country have been pushing back against the rapid expansion of AI data centers with growing success, with the number of active bans and moratoriums jumping from just 8 in May 2025 to 78 today, including 50 active restrictions and

Read More
Happy News

An Alaska Animal Shelter Lets You Borrow A Dog For 48 Hours And It Is Leading To More Adoptions

May 10, 2026

The Anchorage Animal Care and Control shelter in Alaska launched a program in spring 2025 called Tails on Trails that has since become one of the most talked-about shelter initiatives in the country, pairing volunteers with a shelter dog for 48 hours and sending them out to explore the trails

Read More
Happy News

Scientists Gave Monkeys A Reward-Free Video Game And They Played Nearly 100 Rounds Anyway

May 10, 2026

Researchers at Kyoto University’s Institute for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior set out to test whether curiosity in Japanese macaques follows the same pattern observed in humans, and what they found should resonate with anyone who has ever gone down a late-night internet rabbit hole for no practical reason

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.