$Four small bats rest wrapped individually in colorful cloth bundles against a blue background$

Orphaned bats are wrapped up tightly to mimic the warm hug of their moms.

Juergen Freund/NaturePL.com

Saving Baby Bats

Cassidy Lacey raises orphaned baby bats at a wildlife hospital in Australia.

October 2026

By Hailee Romain

Courtesy of Cassidy Lacey

Cassidy Lacey

Several baby bats hang from Cassidy Lacey’s shirt. She picks one up and feeds it from a small milk bottle. It’s just a normal part of her job as a wildlife rescuer at the Tolga Bat Hospital in the state of Queensland in Australia.

The hospital admits about 1,500 bats each year. Most of these are spectacled flying foxes, which are endangered fruit bats and are among the region’s most important pollinators. They can travel more than 50 miles a night, spreading pollen across huge distances.

Baby bats hang from Cassidy Lacey’s shirt. She picks one up and feeds it from a small milk bottle. This is a normal part of Lacey’s job. She’s a wildlife rescuer at the Tolga Bat Hospital in Queensland, Australia.

The hospital takes in about 1,500 bats each year. Most of these are spectacled flying foxes, a type of fruit bat. The flying foxes are endangered. They’re also one of the area’s most important pollinators. They can travel more than 50 miles each night. They spread pollen across huge distances to help plants reproduce.

Feeding Time at Tolga Bat Hospital

Watch a video about wilflife rescuers in Australia taking care of baby bats.

The hospital’s busiest season starts in October. That’s when spectacled flying fox babies, or pups, are born. It’s also peak season for a disease called tick paralysis. It can be fatal to flying foxes and leaves many of the newborn pups orphaned. The hospital admitted 555 flying fox pups in 2025. A newborn flying fox is about the length and weight of a kiwi fruit and requires constant care. Lacey and the other volunteers hand-feed the infants four times a day and regularly bathe them with wet wipes. “In the wild, these newborns can’t do much on their own,” says Lacey, “so we’re basically their parents.”

The hospital’s busiest season starts in October. That’s when spectacled flying fox babies, or pups, are born. It’s also peak season for a disease called tick paralysis. This can be deadly to flying foxes. Many newborn pups end up orphaned. The hospital took in 555 flying fox pups in 2025.

A newborn flying fox is about the length and weight of a kiwi fruit. The tiny pups need constant care. Lacey and the other volunteers feed the babies by hand four times a day. They also bathe the pups with wet wipes. “In the wild, these newborns can’t do much on their own,” says Lacey. “So we’re basically their parents.”

The Truth About Bats

Watch a video about bats.

Raising a pup from arrival to release takes about five months. The bats are weighed once a week to track their growth. As they grow, the bats are moved from the hospital’s nursery to its jungle gym, where they learn to scale rope ladders and climbing frames.

Eventually, the pups are relocated to a larger enclosure where they start eating fruit and flying short distances. The bats are ready for release once they weigh more than 1 pound.

Before release, the young bats spend five days in an even larger enclosure near the forest to give them time to adjust to the outdoors. When they’re ready to live on their own, the door is opened and the bats fly out to join the nearby wild colony. “Watching them fly into the trees to start life on their own in the wild is incredible,” says Lacey.

Raising a pup takes about five months. Volunteers weigh the bats once a week to track their growth. As they grow, the bats move from the hospital’s nursery to its jungle gym. There they learn to climb rope ladders and other structures.

Eventually, the pups move to a larger enclosure. They start eating fruit and flying short distances. Once they weigh more than 1 pound, the bats are ready to be released into the wild.

Before that happens, the young bats spend five days in an even larger enclosure near the forest. This gives them time to adjust to being outside. When they’re ready to live on their own, volunteers open the door. The bats fly out to join the wild group nearby. “Watching them fly into the trees to start life on their own in the wild is incredible,” says Lacey.

RECOGNIZING STATISTICAL QUESTIONS

When collecting and analyzing data, you can ask questions that are either statistical or nonstatistical. A statistical question anticipates variability in the data. Variability refers to how spread out a group of data is. A nonstatistical question has a single answer. It cannot be answered by collecting variable data.