There are over 85 species of bats native to Australia.  Bats account for a third of the continent's native mammal species.  Nearly half of these bats are on the endangered or threatened species list.

The Greater Wart-nosed Horseshoe-bat and the Greater Large-eared Horseshoe Bat are endangered species.  The Grey Headed Flying Fox is now on the vulnerable species list -- all flying foxes are fruit eating bats.

Other Australian bats (many of them threatened species) include the Little Red Flying Fox, the Large Eared Flying Fox, the Spectacled Flying Fox, the Large-eared Pied Bat, the Eastern Long-eared Bat, the Pilbara Leaf-nosed Bat and the Southern Bent-wing Bat.

Materials:

• toilet paper roll or cardboard tube,
• a printer,
• glue,
• scissors,
• something to color with,
• a piece of paper.

Instructions:

• Print out the template of choice.
• Color the pieces as appropriate and cut them out.  You can color them different colors to represent different bats.  The Australian Grey Headed Flying Fox (for example) has a grey head, brown wings and a reddish brown body while the Little Red and Spectacled Flying Foxes are a reddish brown color.
• Glue the large rectangular piece around the toilet paper tube.
• Glue the head onto the front of the toilet paper roll.
• Glue the wings onto the back of the toilet paper roll, so it appears to be flying.
• Glue the five-toed feet to the bottom of the tube.
• Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Main template (color)   or   (B&W)

Wings template (color)   or   (B&W)

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