The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney won approval in 2010 to disperse a colony of flying foxes of about 22,000 bats, arguing they were causing damage.The thousands of flying foxes living year-round in the oldest groves in the Royal Botanic Gardens gardens are stripping leaves and breaking branches, damaging—and even killing—some of the trees.

Flying foxes have always been drawn to Sydney's center. There are reports dating as far back as the 1850s of the bats trying to colonize the Royal Botanic Gardens. Flying-foxes are large bats, weighing up to 1 kg, with a wing span which may exceed one metre. They sleep during the day and feed on pollen, nectar and fruit at night. In the wild they are important pollinators and seed dispersers of native trees. Seeds are discarded in the faeces or fall where the fruit is being eaten. These seeds germinate when conditions are suitable and ensure that dispersal occurs in a wide area.