#les hall

[historybetweenthepages]

Bluey, an Australian cattle dog, who lived to be the oldest dog at 29 years (age 105) with her owner ‘Les Hall’

Rochester, Victoria, Australia, 1930′s

Bluey (dog) - Wikipedia

Bluey (dog) - Wikipedia

[suicidal-demonn-blog]

Crossfade—Cold

[batsrule-info]

the 7:30 report - Fatal fruit bats - Les Hall

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 10/09/2009 Reporter: Peter McCutcheon

Scientists still have unanswered questions about the deadly Hendra virus, like whether it is becoming more common and if it could be spread to other states outside of Queensland. But some scientists are confident fruit bats are partially responsible, and debate is under way over how to manage the flying mammals. Transcript ALI MOORE, PRESENTER: To central Queensland where a funeral held today was a sober reminder of the threat posed by one of the world's deadliest viruses. Veterinary surgeon Dr Alister Rodgers is the fourth person to have died from Hendra virus - first identified in suburban Brisbane 15 years ago. Since then, there have been more than a dozen outbreaks and two confirmed cases just in the past few weeks. This has raised questions as to whether it's becoming more common and whether it could spread to other states. Although scientists are still trying to find out more about the virus they're confident the source can be traced to fruit bats. And this has sparked a major debate. Peter McCutcheon reports. PETER MCCUTCHEON, REPORTER: These Brisbane school kids have been let out of the classroom to learn more about their neighbours: a colony of 20,000 flying foxes has been living in this pocket of suburban bushland for decades. LOUISE SAUNDERS, BAT CARER: You know about Batman but you've got Batwoman today. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Bat carer Louise Saunders is on a mission to improve the image of fruit bats. Why do you think flying foxes get such a bad press? LOUISE SAUNDERS: Well it's from the dark ages when vampires and horror movies and Hollywood ... Hollywood certainly have a lot to answer for. PETER MCCUTCHEON: But not everyone shares this passion for the ubiquitous flying mammal. RAY HOPPER, QLD SHADOW MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE: This Government is putting bats before people and that's unacceptable. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Two recent outbreaks of the deadly Hendra virus believed to have been transmitted from horses to flying foxes have reopened a debate about how we should live with bats. RAY HOPPER: You harass a community of bats and they'll move on. Continual harassment is the answer. I think it would really be a strategy that firstly would have adverse consequences that people hadn't thought about - but it probably wouldn't work anyway. PETER MCCUTCHEON: The link between Hendra virus and bats was discovered in 1996, two years after the first recorded outbreak of the deadly disease. DR HUME FIELD, BIOSECURITY QUEENSLAND: It's a virus that's co-evolved with bats and it's circulated away happily in that little niche for a very long time. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Although apparently harmless to bats, Hendra is one of the world's nastiest viruses. It attacks the walls of blood vessels, affecting nearly every organ in the body. Four people have died from the virus in 15 years, the most recent being that of veterinary surgeon Alister Rodgers whose funeral was held in Rockhampton today. Dr Rogers caught the virus from a horse he thought was suffering from snake bite. DAVID LEMON, FRIEND: let us hope and pray that his death through Hendra virus will not be in vain and will bring about some sort of preventative action. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Despite this tragedy Hendra virus is very difficult to contract. It can't be transmitted directly from bats to humans and so far all recorded cases have come via horses. But a vaccine for horses is at least five years away. DR RICK SYMONS, QLD DEPUTY CHIEF VETERINARY OFFICER: I think the message is not that there's a magic bullet in a vaccine, that it's an endemic disease and there are ways of actually dealing with it today, and it is about hygiene, personal protective equipment, keeping horses away from bats. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Separating bats and horses is easier said than done. But the Queensland Liberal-National Opposition has come up with an idea. So how would we harass the bats? RAY HOPPER: Oh there's plenty of ways of harassing bats. You can spray them with water, noise - because they sleep through the day and they don't like being woken up. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Bats were already on the nose with many farming groups in Queensland particularly fruit growers angry about a recent Queensland Government decision to stop them from shooting flying foxes during harvest time. And they believe the recent Hendra outbreaks justify a change in policy about a protected native species. RAY HOPPER: The flying fox colonies that are near equine facilities we also called for them to be removed. Now, not hurt the flying foxes just harass them and move them on so as we can put a protection mechanism in place. LOUISE SAUNDERS: It's just very much nonsense. I think we need to really concentrate more on giving flying foxes more of a buffer zone. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Louise Saunders is a botanical artist and president of Bat Carers Brisbane. She says bat harassment is not only cruel but counter-productive. LOUISE SAUNDERS: They're getting hounded all the time because people don't understand that the more they hound them, the more the noise, the more the squabble and fighting in a colony. The less disturbance, the happier the bats. PETER MCCUTCHEON: And happy bats, according to the latest research are less likely to carry the Hendra virus. DR HUME FIELD: Nutritional stress and reproductive stress make it more likely that flying foxes will be infected. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Virus expert Dr Hume Field works with Biosecurity Queensland and led the investigation into last year's Hendra virus outbreak, which claimed the life of another veterinarian. He believes the emergence of new viruses from bats is related to habitat damage and growing urbanisation. DR HUME FIELD: Both of those things result in them when you put them together, an increased likelihood of infection in bats under stress. And then if they're in an urban context, in an increased likelihood of exposure to the horses that people have with them in those areas. The health of the natural system and the health of the livestock system and the health of the human system really all overlap and fundamentally are all one system. PETER MCCUTCHEON: But apart from the science Queensland Primaries Industries department argues moving bat colonies is simply impractical. DR RON GLANVILLE, QLD CHIEF VETERINARY OFFICER: We've got huge populations of fruit bats in Australia and even if you wanted to remove them that would be an impossible task anyway. And if you try to shift them they are very mobile animals, they'll just shift from one place to another, then they'll come back again. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Bat biologist Les Hall adds another element to this complex problem. Scientists haven't established exactly how Hendra virus is passed from bats to horses, and Dr Hall says other animals may be involved. DR LES HALL, BAT BIOLOGIST: We need to test a lot more animals, particularly rats, mice, cats, any of the animals that might be associated with horse stables, just to check what the levels of the Hendra virus might be in them. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Hendra virus poses a difficult public policy dilemma. It's extremely rare but deadly - and not fully understood. But until the next scientific breakthrough authorities say there are practical steps that can be taken. DR RON GLANVILLE: Really we're looking at a culture change, probably. In that these days, certainly in the risk areas, I think a vet treating any sick horse needs to be wearing a mask and goggles and gloves, cause that's the way to protect yourself. And similarly horse owners, you know if you've got a horse that's a bit off-colour you need to take appropriate precautions. PETER MCCUTCHEON: And everyone from bats carers to Opposition critics agree on the need for more research. RAY HOPPER: We lost a vet two weeks ago, we’ve had four people die, we've had seven people catch this virus in Queensland. So you're looking at about a 60 per cent death rate. That's unacceptable, unacceptable when it can be slowed down and when more funding can be put into research and maybe we can control this.

[batsrule-info]

A letter and interview from Dr Les Hall

We have been looking at Bats all week and discussing the effects of the cold weather and also the other issues that headline the news of late like Bob Katter threatening to sue the Queensland Government if they do not cull all bats in metro areas immediately. It is understandable that there is tension within the community however, we need to base our comments on fact, not exaggerated opinion by people who have made no effort at all to garnish a balanced view before filling the air waves with their own political agenda. I have been involved with science interpretation since my early twenties and have met with and worked with a considerable number of dedicated naturalists and scientists. My advisor on matters relating to Bats in Australia have been two eminent scientists, Dr’s les Hall and Greg Richards, two senior men with a collective 100 years of work in the field and laboratory working on bats. Within their circle there are other scientists and naturalists who share their findings. So, collectively, there is a great deal of information. Within the bat world, I have noted that the level of humility when it comes to the science is extremely high. Humility is something that I always watch for when I am looking for science to publish in a popular form for the general public, personal ego plays no part in grasping the complexity of the way nature works. Last week I approach Dr Les Hall requesting a letter that I could post and share with those with whom I communicate on facebook pages and through my blog. Following was his response. Please circulate this far and wide among your friends. And hey, let’s get a balanced, calm and sensible discussion going so that we may unravel the issue of Hendra Virus, horses and the effects on human health.

Dear All,

I have been disappointed at the tone of Biosecurity Queensland’s responses to Dr Greg Richard’s and my questions and ideas regarding flying-foxes and Hendra Virus. The major reason why science progresses is that a scientist’s results are subjected to question and review by their peers before being accepted as fact. It is important with something as controversial as Hendra Virus that proper scientific procedure is followed. To label people as deniers just because they ask questions and want to see evidence based proof, is being very disrespectful to science.

The hurriedly organised tele-conference last Sunday involving bat biologists may have been disappointing for BQ – but that is because there was unreal optimism in wanting us all to agree at short notice that there was a direct transmission route for HeV from flying-foxes to horses. Because the evidence is still circumstantial we wanted to find out what new research made BQ so sure of a direct transmission route. The evidence based research has simply not been published. What has been published is the extensive work by AAHL that showed that HeV could NOT be transmitted directly to horses from flying-foxes. This included testing urine, faeces and saliva in all manners and failed to get the virus to transfer from flying-foxes to horses. BQ now wants the support of bat biologists in stating that there is a direct route from flying-foxes to horses. BQ’s belief is based on other circumstantial evidence, which I admit does does have some very strong points – BUT is has not been evidence base tested and published in an appropriate scientific journal. I get very upset in claims that I am adopting a “can’t proove its bats” mentality. All I am asking for is to show me the scientific evidence. The convicting evidence may appear to be overwhelming to BQ but to a scientist this information just represents all the work that needs to be subjected to evidence based research.

It appears that BQ is now pursuing investigations into the shedding of the virus via urine and faeces and this material is then consumed by horses. Why have they dismissed the AAHL’s publication? It will be interesting to see the results of their recent studies published in an appropriate journal – and to see what the research hypothesis states as well as seeing what controls were used.

I accept that BQ staff have plenty of experience in dealing with the public in matters of animal health, but I cannot agree, nor see the advantage of BQ saying that there is direct transmission of HeV from flying-foxes to horses. Why not admit that at this stage we do not know if HeV is transmitted directly from flying-foxes to horses? If humans only contract HeV after it has been amplified via a horse – the same reasoning could be used to argue that horses will only get HeV after it has been amplified through another host or vector. We need to know if the amount of HeV found in flying-fox urine is sufficient to cause the onset of HeV in horses.

As a flying-fox biologist I am continually asked by horse owners and the media – how is HeV transmitted from a flying-fox to a horse, and how can I protect my horse from getting HeV?

HeV is having a major impact on how the public view flying-foxes. I am very pleased that BQ and the Qld State Government have come out very strongly against the culling of flying-foxes. The role of flying-foxes in moving pollen and seeds around our forests is of almost immeasurable value to the health of forests and subsequently our health and well being – let alone the native hardwood industry. To put it bluntly – the Australian environment can survive without horses, but not without flying-foxes.

I would like to see a public statement saying – “flying-foxes are known carriers of HeV but at this stage we lack the research to know if this is the source of HeV that infects horses”. Much more research needs to be done. If the public is led to believe that flying-foxes are to blame, QED, then the fate of our flying-foxes looks very grim.

Best wishes, Dr Les Hall

More on this blog:  So What’s a Bat Clinic? ; 2001 Year of the bat  Steve Parish Publishing Dr Les Hall’s Guide to Australian Bats

Here's another interesting interview with Dr Hall, June 2010:

``People don’t get Hendra from flying foxes, and as far as I’m aware, horses don’t get it from them either,’’ Dr Hall says.

``This is contrary to what you’ll see written and put in the literature, but I have not seen a proper peer-reviewed paper that’s shown how to transfer the virus from a flying fox to a horse. They’ve tried for 15 years to do it, and they haven’t been able to. 

``There’s Hendra in flying foxes, so that’s a good starting point, but good science says you start where the problem is and work backwards. They’ve got it around the wrong way.’‘

Dr Hall points out that Hendra outbreaks occur largely in well-cared-for thoroughbred horses that are kept in stables and on supplementary feed ``not the Netty out in the paddock under the flying foxes all night’‘.

``When there’s an outbreak here, like this latest one at Tewantin, do they check pussycats or rats or any other creatures?’’ he asks rhetorically. ``Sure, there are flying foxes around that part of the world, but what other animals did they check that are near the stables?’’

Dr Hall says that because horses have shown different symptoms, there may be different routes for the virus.

``Once it was a respiratory problem, now it’s a nervous problem. This may reflect whether it’s a tick or a mosquito carrying it. We’ve got to go back to the horse and see if it will lead to a flying fox or somewhere else.’‘

The senior author of Flying Foxes and Fruit Blossom Bats of Australia says it may be as simple as a tick that’s fed on a flying fox, which has then been dropped and found its way on to a horse.

``If they continue to blame the flying fox, I doubt they’ll ever solve the problem,’’ he says.

And here’s a scientifically sound challenge for the gung-ho MPs calling for the culling: ``Instead of calling for a cull, they should be calling for money to help fund some research into flying foxes.

``If you’ve got to kill an animal because you can’t handle what it’s doing to your crop or whatever, it means you’ve been outsmarted by them.’’ 

http://noosa-journal.whereilive.com....-flying-foxes/

re link above.. i think this is the correct link.

http://noosa-journal.whereilive.com.au/lifestyle/story/heres-the-facts-on-flying-foxes/

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/11/15/3633518.htm

Les Hall has lived among bats and immersing himself in finding out everything he could about them has taken him into some very odd places.

Broadcast date: Thursday 15 November 2012

There are almost 1000 different species of bats on earth.

They range from the bumblebee bat from Thailand at 1.5 grams, to the large flying foxes of Australia with wingspans of longer than 1.5 metres.

Bat biologist Les Hall devloped his love of birds from his father, and a boss at the CSIRO later introduced him to the wonder of bats.

Les says he's particularly fond of the horseshoe bat - one of the first he identified.

He's co-authored a book with his long-time colleague Dr Greg Richards: The Natural History of Australian Bats: Working the Night Shift published CSIRO Publishing.

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/local/brisbane/conversations/201211/r1034876_11871896.mp3

[batsrule-info]

Dr Les Hall on Hendra

""

How qualified are our political representatives to make the calls they do?

Last year, it was Caloundra MP Mark McArdle calling for a cull of our native bat population. Now it’s another Coast representative, Peter Wellington, using his position in Parliament to suggest the same thing.

And there have been too many other gung-ho political exterminators peddling the same deadly line in between.

But do they seriously understand what it is they’re suggesting?

Have they researched or even just looked at the science behind their supposed Hendra virus solution, or are they willing to endanger ecosystems on purely political grounds?

Have they spoken to experts in the field, such as scientist Dr Les Hall, who has studied the native creatures for more than 40 years?

"People don’t get Hendra from flying foxes, and as far as I’m aware, horses don’t get it from them either," Dr Hall says.

"This is contrary to what you’ll see written and put in the literature, but I have not seen a proper peer-reviewed paper that’s shown how to transfer the virus from a flying fox to a horse.

They’ve tried for 15 years to do it, and they haven’t been able to."

"There’s Hendra in flying foxes, so that’s a good starting point, but good science says you start where the problem is and work backwards. They’ve got it around the wrong way."

Dr Hall points out that Hendra outbreaks occur largely in well-cared-for thoroughbred horses that are kept in stables and on supplementary feed "not the Netty out in the paddock under the flying foxes all night".

"When there’s an outbreak here, like this latest one at Tewantin, do they check cats or rats or any other creatures?" he asks rhetorically. "Sure, there are flying foxes around that part of the world, but what other animals did they check that are near the stables?"

Dr Hall says that because horses have shown different symptoms, there may be different routes for the virus.

"Once it was a respiratory problem, now it’s a nervous problem. This may reflect whether it’s a tick or a mosquito carrying it. We've got to go back to the horse and see if it will lead to a flying fox or somewhere else."

The senior author of Flying Foxes and Fruit Blossom Bats of Australia says it may be as simple as a tick that’s fed on a flying fox, which has then been dropped and found its way on to a horse.

"If they continue to blame the flying fox, I doubt they’ll ever solve the problem,"  he says.

And here’s a scientifically sound challenge for the gung-ho MPs calling for the culling: "Instead of calling for a cull, they should be calling for money to help fund some research into flying foxes."

"If you've got to kill an animal because you can’t handle what it’s doing to your crop or whatever, it means you've been outsmarted by them."

""

OR, as i would say, your not a very good farmer.

[batsrule-info]

Les Hall on the radio. ABC 612. AU Brisbane - 2012

Broadcast date: Thursday 15 November 2012

There are almost 1000 different species of bats on earth.

They range from the bumblebee bat from Thailand at 1.5 grams, to the large flying foxes of Australia with wingspans of longer than 1.5 metres.

Bat biologist Les Hall devloped his love of birds from his father, and a boss at the CSIRO later introduced him to the wonder of bats.

Les says he's particularly fond of the horseshoe bat - one of the first he identified.

He's co-authored a book with his long-time colleague Dr Greg Richards: The Natural History of Australian Bats: Working the Night Shift published CSIRO Publishing.

download .mp3 file 

Listen to an interview on ABC Canberra with Greg Richards - Canberra's bat man!

[batsrule-info]

Les Speaks up for Bats & Wild Australia Guide: Bats

THE HINTERLAND’S most renowned natural scientist, zoologist Dr Les Hall has won a prestigious Whitley Award from the Royal Zoological Society of NSW for his pocket guide -Bats - published with photographer, Steve Parish.

Les works from his Maleny home on his new Bats book, to be published by CSIRO Books.

Les Hall has spent an academic lifetime studying bats both here and in bat-rich Borneo where he has trained many budding zoologists in that country. He is passionate about raising the public profile of bats which have received a battering in recent years with the emergence of the Hendra and Lyssa viruses attributed to the country-wide flying fox.

Les says the public fear and wariness of bats goes back centuries when bats were associated with vampires and Dracula and witches brews. “Most people have always been fearful of these black leathery things that fly around at night”, he says.

Les adds that many bat researchers now think that the Hendra virus, which has killed horses and four humans, is not actually transmitted to horses by the flying fox. They believe the virus is contracted by other animals, such as cats and then transmitted to horses. “Unfortunately,” says Les, “many horse owners in particular want to exterminate flying foxes.”

In their defence, Les says that recent research has shown that flying foxes are chiefly responsible for pollinating our hardwood forest trees because the trees are only receptive to pollination at night, when flying foxes are out and about. “So our commercial hardwoods along the east coast are very dependent on flying foxes,” says Les. ” The smaller bats also keep insect numbers down so if they were taken out of the equation en masse, we would have many more mosquitoes, moths and beetles all over the place.”

Apart from his Bats pocket guide, Les is completing a book on Borneo Bats and also what he calls his magnum opus – The Natural History of Australian Bats written with a CSIRO colleague of 40 years, Greg Richards which will be published by the CSIRO and Steve Parish in 2011.

This lavishly illustrated book contains the history of bat studies as well as identifying bats and bat habitats in every Australian city. The book required many field trips including several with Steve Parish. In the Northern Territory for example, they identified and photographed 25 different species of bats.

“My long term objective is to rid people of the fear and dislike of bats which is really due to a lack of education,” says Les. “I want to inspire people to help protect these remarkable animals.”

Bats are an amazing group of animals – they are the only mammals to have mastered true powered flight, yet they remain some of the most misunderstood and persecuted creatures.

Author Les Hall shares his expert knowledge in this comprehensive and authoritative book, which was awarded best Pocket Guide in the 2010 Whitley Awards for natural history publishing.

This Wild Australia Guide features information on habitats, breeding, predators and threats, the benefits from bats, bat conservation as well as caring for injured or orphaned bats. It aims to dispel the negative myths about these remarkable and intelligent mammals and demonstrate how engaging and fascinating bats really are!

New book on bats to be released in July 2012

Bats are the only mammals to have mastered true flight (gliders do not truly flap their “wings” like bats do) and possess many other amazing adaptations, such as echolocation. While bats deserve our respect and care as important pollinators of native plants, as well as crucial components of our ecosystems, most people barely notice them unless noisy colonies alert humans to their presence. Others actively campaign against colonies making their homes in parks and gardens close to cities. Yet, without bats, several important natural habitats would struggle to thrive or survive.

Dr Les Hall, Dr Greg Richards, two of Australia’s leading bat experts, and I started planning the Steve Parish Publishing Wild Australia Guide to Bats which was released in 2010 and has since one awards.  Since then, I’ve spent a couple of years travelling with Les and Greg attempting to study and photograph all Australian species and assisting them in getting photographs for their new book to be published by CSIRO in July 2012 under the title ‘A Natural History of Australian Bats – Working the Night Shift’.

Over recent times in particular I have heard a lot of people malign bats or deride them as gothic or evil, fruit thieves or disease carriers, but I can tell you that most of the ill will towards them is undeserved. The threat of being infected by bats is no greater than being made sick by associating with the family cat or dog, especially as few people get close to bats in the wild. Once you do get close to them, you realise they are actually are gorgeous little mammals. Microbats can fit on the end of your thumb — they’re just adorable — and even flying-foxes look a lot like puppies when they’re young. Les and Greg have also enlightened me about so many fascinating aspects of bats’ lives and senses, too. I’ve got to admit I’ve gone totally batty over bats and find them a real thrill to photograph.

Australia has more than 90 bat species, including some truly bizarre and unique species, such as the carnivorous Ghost Bat. I hope that A Wild Australia Guide and the forthcoming Natural History of Bats books go some way to educating the general public to these truly incredible mammals.

Here are some of the special images appearing in the new book.

[batsrule-info]

CSIRO's book launch. Bats Working the Night Shift

To hold a little microbat in your hand, its body the size of the end of your thumb, is nothing but astounding. Its head is nearly the size of a man’s fingernail, its tiny ears are twitching as it struggles to get free, and then it bares its teeth to try and scare you into letting it go. Inside that tiny head is a powerhouse of information. Some of our little bats know the entire landscape of our east coast, and can pinpoint a cave entrance in dense forest 500 km from its last home. When they get there they know what to do – where to forage, which bat to mate with and how to avoid local predators.

A Natural History of Australian Bats uncovers the unique biology and ecology of these wonderful creatures. It features a description of each bat species found in Australia, as well as a section on bat myths. The book is enhanced by stunning colour photographs from Steve Parish, most of which have never been seen before.

Listen to an interview on ABC Canberra with Greg Richards - Canberra's bat man!

Listen to Les Hall on the "Conversations" program talking about his fascination with bats.