They're a quirky, eye-catching sales tactic that's usually reserved for car dealerships. Two bright, wacky inflatable tube people are among the scores of heritage-listed trees in Rockhampton's Botanic Gardens.
The inflatable figures are not there for a festival or event, but they are part of the Rockhampton Regional Council's bid to deter flying foxes away from the gardens' popular kiosk and nearby airport.
The air dancers are a visual deterrent that keeps the flying foxes from returning to an area after moving away, and other councils have had success using them, according to Councillor Grant Mathers.
It's less likely that the flying foxes will become used to them in the environment and settle near them because of the random motion of the air dancers.
This is a 150-year-old, nationally significant botanical collection that we have here, and unfortunately the flying foxes are doing a lot of damage to that pinnacle collection.
The Rockhampton Regional Council's dispersal campaign last year involved strobe lights, banging pool noodles and playing noises on speakers.
The number of black bats decreased from 6,560 in mid-May to 1,100 at the end of June, and there are no black bats currently in the kiosk area.
The inflatable figures are only used as a visual deterrent on the black bats, as the more nomadic red flying foxes currently have dependent young in the roost.
Cr Mathers said that the biggest concern about the bat population was interference at the nearby airport, which was right in the colony's flight path.
In 2021, fly foxes accounted for almost half of the bird strikes at the airport, with strikes jumping 18 per cent from 2020 to 2021, according to council data.
When a strike occurred, planes had to be grounded, assessed for damage, and staff had to find the animal to identify what hit the aircraft, which caused delays and safety concerns, according to Cr Mathers.
In previous years, local bat conservation groups have been critical of the council's management of the population.
At this time, representatives were invited to complete a survey of the population, but Matilda Widdowson, Bat Care Capricornia, said overall involvement in the dispersal campaign was minimal.
Ms Widdowson said the group did not agree with the dispersal, as it was costly and put the animals under stress.
Ms Widdowson said that the Botanic Gardens is in an area where we can actually observe and research the species that we know so little about.
Simon Robson, CQUniversity biology professor, said that the protected species were very important pollinators of eucalyptus trees.
He said that they play an absolute key role in maintaining what we think of as the classic Australian environment - eucalyptus trees.
We need flying foxes, it becomes problematic when they are limited to where they can roost, and they end up in the nice patches of forest that cities have set aside that we call Botanic Gardens. The campaign of the council, which involved industry experts, cost $56,000.
The council received $45,000 in a state government grant for ongoing roost management into the future, including deterrent efforts.
Ms Widdowson said she would prefer to see the council invest money in planting more roosts for the bats rather than dispersal campaigns.
She was skeptical about the inflatable figures' ability to work.
She said that's the first we've heard of this method.
Professor Robson said that he had not seen the method before but applauded the council for trying new methods. It appears that it's fairly non-invasive or non-harmful to the bat and it'll be fascinating to see how it works.