I WOULD like to respond to several claims made in letters published in the Bendigo Advertiser on June 26, in relation to the grey-headed flying-fox colony in Rosalind Park. Grey-headed flying-fox droppings cannot harm trees or plants. They are, in fact, highly sought by gardeners as fertiliser.Melbourne’s botanic gardens won a world competition for its camellias when the bat colony resided alongside. Grey-headed flying foxes are struggling to survive right down Australia’s east coast and now inland. Many are seriously underweight from lack of food.Sydney’s botanic gardens recently cancelled a planned relocation because of this.Trying to move them, a major challenge at the best of times, may be highly detrimental to their welfare. The colony is a normal colony — like a beehive or flock of geese. Their numbers and roosting behaviour are normal.This land is their home — and has been for the past two million years.If left in peace, the bats pose far less risk to the average human than the domestic dog or horse, which hospitalise hundreds of Victorians each year. The “screeching” is the bats communicating with each other. It is not something to be fearful of.Being fair dinkum about conservation sometimes means putting the serious interests of other species ahead of your own less-serious ones i.e. a bit of noise, wear and tear on some trees and some scenting (it isn’t faeces).Bendigo’s Rosalind Park is providing a much-needed sanctuary to native animals that need our help.This is real conservation in action that Bendigo can be proud of. Not many towns play a direct physical role in the survival of a species that has declined by more than 95 per cent in the past century and is listed as vulnerable to extinction. LAWRENCE POPE,president, Victorian Advocates for Animals, North Carlton