Amidst the drought, huge number of bats have been found starved to death in Australia while struggling for their food supply. According to the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital Foundation, there has been a rapid increase in the number of bats coming to the hospital in Queensland. The foundation posted on September 22 and said 'never handle a bat or flying fox' instead contact them for wildlife care. They have rescued nearly 21 bats who were emaciated. The extreme rise in temperature have also caused the flying foxes to fall from the trees out of weakness. 

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Hundreds of dead bats

Ashley Fraser, a volunteer at the foundation said that parts of the Gold Coast were 'littered' with hundreds of dead bats. Goal Coast which is a popular tourist destination. Even though there have been multiple cases of bats being starved to death, Fraser admitted that they have never dealt it at such a huge extent. Moreover, she expects the situation to get even worse in the near future. According to the volunteer, climate change will make drought conditions even more terrible. It was also lead to a very unhealthy environment for bats to exist. These deaths have also been linked to bats' food supply being decreased drastically due to the drought. Thousands of bats have died across Australia during this span of drought in the last southern hemisphere summer. This has been caused by extreme temperatures is a common phenomenon which has made the bats fall from trees. 

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Drought in Queensland 

The extended drought in Queensland has been responsible for the death of bats, along with bushfires and storms. It was even reported that the rescued flying foxes by the Bats Queensland were so weak that their bodies had started shutting down, making them slower. Most bats were even beyond repair and the ones who were fit enough to exist have an uncertain future. Ashley Fraser even said that they don't want to release the bats from their rehabilitation if there are not enough sources of food in the environment. The New South Wales and two-thirds of Queensland along with Bureau of Meteorology have declared the drought and predicted below-average rainfall across Australia. 

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