Bats force staff, students out of school

Brisbane (May 1, 2007) - A swarm of bats has forced staff and students out of the main building at Kalbar State School, south-west of Brisbane.

Some residents believe the free-tailed bats - now numbering in their thousands - occupied the building even before it was moved to its current George St location in 1955. The school first opened in 1885.

"We had one of our customers come in this morning and he said he used to go to the school when it was up on the hill before it was moved, and there were bats in their back in those days," a Kalbar newsagent said. "That was 60 years ago."

For several years, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) have been working with Education Queensland to stop the bats roosting in the building.

QPWS last visited the school in October last year but has since been in contact with school representatives, recommending several holes be fixed to deny bats entry to the building.

Four demountable buildings are currently accommodating staff and students while authorities work out a way to evict the tiny animals - mostly made up of the Mormopterus species, a type of bat which roosts all year round in very warm areas.

The bats themselves play an important role in the local ecosystem, eating many times their own bodyweight in insects, thus controlling pests for local farmers.

It is estimated they have lived at the 128-year-old school for more than 100 years.

"The department has hired three temporary buildings to accommodate staff who have moved from school buildings occupied by roosting micro-bats,'' an Education Queensland spokeswoman said today.

"A relocatable building is also being used as a classroom.''

An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spokeswoman said the classrooms were providing an "ideal habitat'' for the bats.

"The bats ... like very hot roosting sites, as a roof cavity under corrugated iron would provide,'' she said.

"The year-round use of this Kalbar site means it is likely being used as a maternity site for birthing and raising young.''

Ultrasonic devices, lighting and bat boxes were already being used to try to lure bats away but EPA officers have recommended structural work to block the tiny holes the bats are entering through.

Kalbar Parents' and Citizens' Association president Robin Hutchings said the bats were not particularly noisy but were smelly.

"If you were a parent or a child in that room you would smell bat faeces and urine - you would see a small amount of urine running down the walls on the inside,'' he said.

But he said many parents were not concerned about the bats, having been through the school themselves with no problems.

"The elderly residents of the community say that they've been there as long as anyone can recall,'' Mr Hutchings said.

"As far as the P&C are concerned, as far as our records go back, as far as we can trace, there's always been some issue with bats."

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