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<\/p>\nA photographer on Christmas Island has captured what is thought to be the first-ever image of a critically endangered bat carrying its young mid-flight.<\/p>\n
Chris Bray said it took hours of effort and hundreds of discarded photos to snap the rare sight.<\/p>\n
“You just photograph every bat that goes past, and we took over 1,000 photos,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Later on, we went through them all and then realised that a few of them [photos] had the pup.”<\/p>\n
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Mr Bray says wet weather conditions made it tricky to snap the perfect shot. (Supplied: Chris Bray)<\/p>\n
The Christmas Island flying fox is endemic to the remote territory more than 1,500 kilometres off the West Australian coast.<\/p>\n
It is the last native mammal still found there, with a population of fewer than 4,000 <\/strong>estimated to remain in the wild, according to ecologist and bat expert, Annabel Dorrestein.\u00a0<\/p>\n “They’re our own version of the flying fox, critically endangered, but they’re also the cutest bat species in the world,” Mr Bray said.<\/p>\n “They’ve got big round faces, and they’re super fluffy, and their ears are very round.<\/p>\n “They do just look like a teddy bear.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Loading…Difficult conditions<\/p>\n Finding a window of clear weather to take the photo was the greatest obstacle, Mr Bray said.<\/p>\n “We’d been out a couple of times over the last few months to see if we could spot any and had no luck,” he said.<\/p>\n “And then just before we were going to fly out, we went and gave it one more try and then found them.<\/p>\n “It was pouring with rain and really windy, and so it was pretty terrible lighting.<\/p>\n “[But] just impressive to see them flying around in all the gusty wind and so much rain that they were wet and all their fur was really heavy.”<\/p>\n A flying fox pup weighs up to 15 per cent of its mother’s body weight. (Supplied: Chris Bray)<\/p>\n For his partner, Dr Dorrestein of Western Sydney University, seeing the bat cart its pup was not unexpected, but a natural marvel nonetheless.<\/p>\n “When they are born, they’re about 15 per cent of their mother’s weight,” Dr Dorrestein said.<\/p>\n “Knowing that flying is already incredibly energetically costly, and then also the mum is lactating \u2026 and then she carries around a little blob underneath her.<\/p>\n “It’s actually really incredible.”<\/p>\n Critically endangered<\/p>\n Dr Dorrestein said the introduction of feral cats on Christmas Island had a “gigantic impact” on flying fox numbers.<\/p>\n “We’ve seen flying fox remains in \u2026 the stomach contents of cats<\/a>,” she said.<\/p>\n Along with yellow crazy ants, the invasive species has devastated local wildlife.<\/p>\n At about 400 grams, the Christmas Island flying fox is smaller than its mainland counterparts \u2014 drawing comparisons to a “teddy bear”. (Supplied: Chris Bray)<\/p>\n Four of the five mammals native to the territory have gone extinct since 1888.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/5e64998f8a6f3a928bee0eaa98287677.jpeg\")
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