Throughout their world distribution, fruit bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) play an extremely important role in forest ecology through seed dispersal and pollination. However, the recognition of their role in maintaining forest ecological diversity has been largely overshadowed by the fact that fruit bats are known to cause damage to a wide variety of cultivated fruits and, as a result, significant effort is undertaken to control fruit bat numbers in areas where crop damage frequently occurs. In Australia, fruit bats of the genus Pteropus (or flying foxes) are well known for their role in destroying valuable fruit crops, particularly along the east coast from Cairns to Sydney. Historical evidence suggests that flying foxes have been culled as an orchard pest in large numbers for the past 80 years. Uncontrolled culling both on-farm and in roosts coupled with extensive habitat destruction in the past century, has resulted in noticeable declines both in flying fox distribution and local population numbers. In New South Wales, flying foxes have been 'protected' under the National Parks and Wildlife Act (1974) since 1986. From that time, fruitgrowers have been required to obtain a licence (referred to as an occupier's licence) from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to cull flying foxes causing damage to fruit crops. However, despite the 'protected' status of the species, flying foxes continue to be culled in large numbers as an orchard pest. An examination of the management of flying foxes in NSW, has shown that, between 1986-1992, fifteen NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Districts issued a combined total of 616 occupier's licences to shoot flying foxes with an total allocation of over 240,000 animals. In addition, most flying foxes are culled when the female is carrying her young under wing or when the young remain in the camp but continue to be dependent on her return for survival. Further evidence on the extent of culling includes a widely distributed fruitgrower survey with responses indicating that as few as 50% of the fruitgrowers shooting flying foxes in NSW obtain the required licence from the National Parks and Wildlife Service. While the NPWS has undertaken research into the role of flying foxes in seed dispersal and pollination, management effort largely continues to focus on resolving conflicts between fruitgrowers and flying foxes primarily by issuing culling permits to fruitgrowers. At present, there is no NPWS policy on the management of flying foxes in NSW to guide the administration of the permit system. As a result, the process of issuing permits for flying foxes is largely inconsistent between NPWS Districts. The absence of comprehensive goals and objectives for the management of flying foxes has resulted in the current situation where large numbers of flying foxes are being culled both legally and illegally in the absence of any data on the impacts of unknown culling levels on local flying fox populations. The NPWS has a statutory obligation to manage flying foxes consistent with the 'protected' status of the species in NSW and several well known principles of wildlife management. However, current management of flying foxes in indicates that the Service may be in violation of the requirement to 'protect' and 'conserve' flying foxes as required under the National Parks and Wildlife Act (1974). This study recommends that licences issued to fruitgrowers to cull flying foxes be discontinued immediately and that adequate enforcement be engaged to reduce illegal shooting. This action should continue until such time that research on flying fox populations is able to demonstrate that the culling of flying foxes will not lead populations into decline. Furthermore, management effort should focus on the development of alternative strategies to reduce crop damage by flying foxes and provide incentives for growers to utilize existing control strategies such as netting.