LOCATION

Horeshoe Bend Reserve is a tongue of semi-natural bushland within the Wilson Reserve.

 

It is about 4 hectares, bounded by the Yarra and the Yarra Trail, south of the Ivanhoe Public Golf Course and Bailey's Billabong.

 

It consists generally of dense vegetation, fenced, with limiterd public pedestrian access.

 

Between 2001 and 2005. the area was used for a trial of a new roosting ground for the Grey Headed Bat, which was 

to assess the suitability of establishing a permanent alternative site for relocatinvg the bat population in Melbourne's Botanical Gardens.

 

Extensive work was carried out by several authoriries, in conjjuntion with Banyule Council, in constructing roosting huts, management access tracks, fencing, signage and other infrastructure. A landing pad was built on the river bank, for assistance with delivery of building materials to the site from the river.

 

To create the impression of an even larger colony, leaf litter was taken from the Gardens and moved to the new habitat at Horseshoe Bend. Food had been provided, recordings of large bat colonies played over loudspeakers, and plastic bats hung from artificial roosts installed to serve the flying foxes while newly-planted trees were growing.

 

Sadly, the bats didn't cooperate! They were evicted from the Botanical Gardens, but chose to set up their new colony on the banks of the Yarra, in the Yarra Bend Park, opposite Coate Park,  not far from Ivanhoe. All attempts to relocate the animals to the new Ivanhoe habitat were unsuccessful, even though it had been determined that Horseshoe Bend was on the main "Yarra flight path" for Melbourne's bat population!

 

At the time, there were some 80,000 bats roosting in the Gardens during the summer months, when baby bats appeared.

 

On completion of the failed trial, the infrastructure was taken down and removed, and the site has now reverted to its original state, with no public access. The original management track from the Yarra Trail gate has been overgrown.

 

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