'Plague' of bats puts town into lockdown leaving locals afraid to leave homes

13 January 2024 , 12:00

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'Plague' of bats puts town into lockdown leaving locals afraid to leave homes

Terrified locals in a town in Australia were forced to stay indoors and even the hospital's air ambulance was grounded after thousands of bats took over the skies.

A 'biblical' swarm of bats in Ingham, Australia left residents in a lockdown situation, scared to leave their homes and refusing to take their children to school.

The 'bat-tornado' was so horribly intense that the local hospital's air ambulance was grounded because they made it impossible and too dangerous to take to the air. The flying animals took over the town in North Queensland, but they are a protected species so very little could be done.

People were out to see the spectacle (A Current Affair)

There were an estimated 300,000 of the winged mammals taking up residence in trees and soaring through the skies, which meant bats out numbered residents of the town.

When the terrifying act of nature occurred in 2020, Mayor of Hinchinbrook Council Raymon Jayo told news magazine show A Current Affair: "It just seems to me that every bat in Australia is now in Ingham.

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"There's four different species and because they all have young at different times, there's hardly a window of opportunity when we can interact with these bats to try and move them on.”

The bat tornado over the Australian town (A Current Affair)

But outspoken local politician Bob Katter told the program if it was up to him, he'd "be down here with a shotgun".

He said: "There comes a point where I think not breaking the law really becomes 'dogging it,' as we say in North Queensland. And I think that point has probably been reached.”

President of the Ingham's Chamber of Commerce, Rachael Coco, added at the time: "If this was happening at parliament house, somebody would have come up with a solution by now." He said that tourism in the area had taken a dramatic hit since the bats arrived.

Trees around one primary school were full of the upside down fruit bats, with many parents refusing to send their children to school until they were gone.

Mum Susanne Kaurila added: "They're not stepping a foot in that ground until something is being done."

Beth Hardie