D i s n ey ’s Magic Cabin Bats Bats of Indi BATS · 2014-01-03 · WWW. B ATC ON . OR G SUMMER 2003 B AT CONSERVAT ION IN T ERN AT ION A L Bats of India BATS D i s n ey ’s Magic

W W W . B A T C O N . O R G S U M M E R 2 0 0 3

B AT C O N S E R VAT I O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Bats of India

BATSBATSCabin BatsD i s n ey ’s Magic

Bat S m e l l sBat S m e l l s

AR O M A S I M PA C T B AT B E H AV I O R

BATS Volume 21 , No. 2 , Summer 2003

Disney’s MagicFruit bats become stars at Walt Disney Worldby Mark Chag

Cabin BatsTownsend’s big-eared bats follow a wandering roostby Ann McCreary

Protecting the Bats of IndiaSigns of progress amid daunting challengeby Shahroukh Mistry

Bat SmellsHow aromas affect bat behaviorby Barbara French

BCI HighlightsA year of conservation successes

News and NotesPicnic batsHonors for a BCI partnerEnvironmental achievementWish list

FEATURES

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5

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12

DEPARTMENTS

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COVER PHOTORoosting Mexican free-tailed bats generate a powerful aroma that is surprisingly similar to the odor offresh tacos. In fact, the smells are chemically the same. (See ‘Bat Smells’ on Page 12.) Photo © Merlin D. Tuttle, BCI \ 8355501

Bat Conservation Intern a t i o n a lP.O. Box 162603, Austin, Texas 78716(512) 327-9721 • Fax (512) 327-9724 www.batcon.org

Publications StaffManaging Editor: Robert LockeConsulting Editor: David BaxterPublications Designer: Elysia Wright DavisVisual Resources Manager: Kristin HayB AT S welcomes queries from writers. Send your article proposalwith a brief outline and a description of any photos to the addressabove or via e-mail to: [email protected].

M e m b e r s : Please send changes of address and all correspondenceto the address above or via e-mail to [email protected]. Pleaseinclude your label, if possible, and allow six weeks for the changeof address.

Founder & Pre s i d e n t : Dr. Merlin D. TuttleExecutive Director: Robert J. HankinsB o a rd of Tru s t e e s :Andrew Sansom, ChairpersonJohn D. Mitchell, Vice ChairmanVerne R. Read, Chairman Emeritus Peggy Phillips, SecretaryMark T. Ritter, TreasurerJeff Acopian; Mark A. Adkins; Eugene L. Ames, Jr.; CharlesChester; Eugenio Clariond Reyes; Michael L. Cook; Robert E.Gerrie; Nancy Harte; Joan Kelleher; Travis Mathis; Scott McVay; Thomas Read; Wilhelmina E. Robertson; LeeSchmitt; Patsy Steves; Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle; Roy Vaughan;Marc Weinberger. Advisory Trustees: Sharon R. Forsyth; Dr.D.J. Sibley, Jr.

Membership Manager: Amy McCartney

Scientific Advisory Board :

D r. Eduard Yavrouian, A r m e n i a ; D r. Leslie S. Hall, Dr. Greg Richards, Bruce Thomson, Australia; Dr. Irina K.Rakhmatulina, Azerbaijan; Dr. Luis F. Aguirre, Bolivia; Dr.Wilson Uieda, Brazil; Dr. M. Brock Fenton, Canada; Dr. JiriGaisler, Czech Republic; Dr. Uwe Schmidt, Germany; Dr. G.Marimuthu, Dr. Shahroukh Mistry, India; Dr. Rodrigo A.Medellín, Dr. Arnulfo Moreno, Mexico; Ir. Herman Limpens,Netherlands; Dr. Armando Rodriguez-Duran, Puerto Rico;Dr. Ya-Fu Lee, Taiwan; Dr. Paul A. Racey, United Kingdom;Dr. Denny G. Constantine, Robert Currie, Dr. Theodore H.Fleming, Dr. Thomas H. K u n z, Dr. Gary F. McCracken, Dr.Don E. Wilson, United States; D r. José R. Ochoa G.,Venezuela.

B AT S (ISSN 1049-0043) is published quarterly by Bat Conservation International, Inc., a nonprofit corporation supported by tax-deductible contributions used for public education, research, and conservat ion of threatened and endangered bats. ©Bat Conservation International, 2002.

All rights reserved.

Bat Conservation International is dedicated to conserving and restoring bat populations andhabitats around the world. Using non-confrontational approaches, we educate peopleabout the ecological and economic values of

bats, advance scientific knowledge about bats and the ecosys-tems that rely on them, and preserve critical bat habitatsthrough win-win solutions that benefit both humans and bats.

A subscription to BATS is included with BCI membership: Senior, Student or Educator $25; Basic $30; Friends of BCI $40;Supporting $50; Contributing $100; Patron $250; Sustaining$500; Founder’s Circle $1,000. Third-class postage paid atAustin, Texas. Send address changes to Bat ConservationInternational, P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716.

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© MERLIN D. TUTTLE, BCI \ 0002311

S U M M E R 2 0 0 3 B AT S1

That needless fear of bats is but one ofm a ny myths that fall as Disney applies itsspecial touch to bat conservation ande d u c a t i o n , not only at Walt Disney Wo r l din Florida but, t h rough the Disney Wi l d-l i fe Conservation Fund, a round mu ch ofthe wo r l d .

Disney’sMagicby Mark Chag

Fruit bats become stars at Walt Disney World

When they fi rst enter the viewing are a , v i s i t o rs often take one look at the big bats hangi n gf rom bra n ches and ropes or stre t ching their great wings in flight and re a ch out to con-fi rm the re a s s u ring presence of a glass barri e r. But there is none. And with that discov-

e ry, an ex p ression of concern clouds many a fa c e . Then they lean wa ri ly between the wo o dcolumns and observe the objects of their anxiety.You can wa t ch a look of awe and wonder spre a da c ross their fa c e s . In that magic moment,D i s n ey ’s Animal Kingdom ch a n ges a fundamental and dan-ge rous misconception about bats.

Visitors to Disney’s Animal Kingdom are enthralled by the giant fruit bats that are among the park’s most popular exhibits.

Fruit bats become stars at Walt Disney World

The bats of Disney ’s Animal Kingdoml i ve in the Cliffs of Anandapur ex h i b i t ,p a rt of the Maharajah Jungle Trek in thep a rk ’s Asia-themed are a .The trek incl u d e sh abitats for komodo drago n s , t a p i rs , p ri-m a t e s , t i ge rs , h o o fed animals, and a va ri-ety of birds in a wa l k - t h rough av i a ry. T h e

f ruit bats are among the headliners .The display, designed in close collab o-

ration with Bat Conservation Inter-national Founder Merlin Tu t t l e , fe a t u re st wo re m a rk able species: the Malayan fly-ing fox (P t e ropus va m py ru s) and theR o d rigues fruit bat (P t e ropus ro d ri c e n -

Volume 21, No. 2B AT S S U M M E R 2 0 0 32

s i s) .The Malayan flying fox , also know nas the large fruit bat, is easily the large s tof the wo r l d ’s bats. Its wingspan canexceed six feet (1.8 meters ) . N eve rb e fo re has a bat so large been on publ i cd i s p l ay in North A m e ri c a , and the effe c ton visitors is dra m a t i c .

The Rodrigues fruit bat, though mu chs m a l l e r, p l ays a key role in the educa-tional aspect of the ex h i b i t . It is amongthe ra rest of mammals. N a t i ve to the sin-gle Indian Ocean island of Rodrigues inM a u ritius (near Madag a s c a r ) , the speciesseemed destined for extinction just aq u a rter century ago , when only 70R o d rigues fruit bats surv i ve d . I n t e n s ec o n s e rvation effo rts and a captive - b re e d-ing pro gram have increased the popula-tion to around seve ral thousand. T h elegacy of this species’ re t u rn from the

b rink of ex t i n c t i o ngi ves us a perfect con-s e rvation message fo rour guests.

The Animal King-dom has 20 Malaya nflying foxes and 7R o d rigues fruit bats.The bats, all of themm a l e s , came from theLubee Fo u n d a t i o n ,I n c . , of Gainesville,F l o ri d a , in 1998. T h en o n p ro fit org a n i z a-t i o n , dedicated to con-s e rving Old Wo r l df ruit bats, was fo u n d-ed by the late Luis F.B a c a rdi of the Bacard iRum fa m i ly, an early

and stalwa rt supporter of BCI.The bats’ home is a 100,000-cubic-foot (2,830-

cubic-meter) fre e - flight are a , plus an adjacent hold-ing area with another 10,000 cubic feet (283 cubicm e t e rs ) .The fruit bats’ diet includes a wide ra n ge off resh fruits and ve ge t abl e s , plus va rious vitamin andm i n e ral supplements.

Our bats, w h i ch we re all born in captivity, h aveex p e rienced no significant pro bl e m s , thanks in largep a rt to Disney ’s husbandry pro gra m . By prov i d i n gt wo flight are a s , we can clean and maintain onewhile the bats are in the other.This sharply re d u c e sdisturbance and stre s s .

Malayan flying foxes, the world’s largest bats, have wingspans that can exceed six feet (1.8meters). This is the only place in North America where these huge bats are on public display.

This acrobatic Malayan flying fox is dining on greens, part of a diet that includes a widerange of fruits and vegetables, from bananas and kiwis to peppers and corn.

contact info rm a t i o nfor such key org a n i z a-tions as BCI.

The Kids’ E x p l o re rsClub takes ch i l d re nages three to eight ona six-stop learning tourof the park thati n cludes an intera c t i veexplanation of howf ruit bats use theirkeen sense of smell tofind fo o d .

Bats also fi g u re intocl a s swo rk at Disney ’sCenter of Excellence,p a rt of the semester-long wo rk - s t u dy pro-gram for college stu-dents at Walt DisneyWorld Resort . I n t e rn se a rn college credits byattending an assort-ment of cl a s s e s , i n cl u d-ing an elective batclass taught by the ani-m a l - keeping staff. T h eclass cove rs conserva-tion info rm a t i o n ,n a t u r-al history, and batb e h av i o r. It also teaches students how tos e p a rate bat myths from bat truths inhopes of countering the often-negativei m age of bats found in the media.In addi-tion to students, full-time employe e sf rom all over Walt Disney World are alsoi nvited to attend the cl a s s .

Our commitment to bat conserva t i o nis also demonstrated at Disney ’s Ve roB e a ch Resort , n e a r ly 80 miles southeastof Walt Disney Wo r l d . T h e re , guests canattend an evening education and activitysession on a va riety of env i ro n m e n t a lt o p i c s , i n cluding bats. Fo l l owing the ses-s i o n , t h ey may tour the re s o rt ’s lakes h o re , w h i ch has now been furn i s h e dwith bat houses.The message : Bat hous-es can improve your own neighborhoodby attracting these fa s c i n a t i n g , i n s e c t - e a t-ing mammals.

Volume 21, No. 2 S U M M E R 2 0 0 3 B AT S3

Vi s i t o rs get a clear and unobstru c t e dv i ew of the bats from the indoor view i n ga re a , w h e re employees are always ava i l-able to answer questions. Bat talks areb roadcast into the viewing area peri o d i-c a l ly, e n s u ring that eve ry guest hears atleast a few fun bat facts and a conserva-tion message .

These employees are important andk n ow l e d ge able educators with theo p p o rtunity to teach thousands of peo-ple a day about the true nature and va l u eof bats.T h ey meet with the animal-ke e p-e rs befo re the park opens to re c e i veupdated info rmation and discuss anyn ew questions and topics.

The ke e p e rs themselves conduct battalks from inside the bat hab i t a t . Bats arenot handled, although ke e p e rs descri b etheir behavior and anatomy. C o n d u c t i n gthese presentations while standingamong the bats cl e a r ly demonstrates toour guests that these are ge n t l e , n o n -ag gre s s i ve animals.

Then there is the Presenter Te a m , aspecialized group of wildlife educatorswho take the twin messages of conser-vation and education into eve ry corn e rof the park . E a ch team member is tra i n e dand tested for two weeks on virt u a l lyeve ry animal in our collection.T h ey usea life-size cloth model to explain thech a ra c t e ristics of bats, emphasize thei m p o rtance of bats to the Eart h ’s env i-ronmental health, and explain the adva n-t ages of building bat houses to attra c tbats to our own backya rd s .

R a fi k i ’s Planet Wa t ch is an educationalwalking tour that shows guests how tobuild their own backya rd habitat for localw i l d l i fe and encourages personal part i c i-pation in conserva t i o n . A bat house andgraphics demonstrate the importance ofbats in our neighborhoods. The wa l kwinds up at the EcoWeb computer sta-t i o n , a source of detailed info rmation ons p e c i fic wildlife and conservation issuesand how to get invo l ve d . Guests canre c e i ve free printouts of bat info rm a t i o n ,bl u e p rints for building bat houses, a n d

Animal Kingdom staffer Nicole Householder uses a life-size cloth model to give youngstersa sense of just how big a Malayan flying fox can be.

For ye a rs , B oy Scout troops fro ma c ross the nation, as well as Flori d as ch o o l ch i l d re n , h ave been visitingD i s n ey ’s Fo rt Wi l d e rness Resort to learnabout local wildlife . Bats are now part ofthe ex p e ri e n c e , thanks to a pair of con-spicuous bat houses installed by LauraFinn of Fly By Night, I n c . / B C I . T h ey arebeing included in educational pro gra m sconducted by both the Y. E . S . ( Yo u t hEducation Series) pro gram and Disney ’sWi l d e rness A d ve n t u res staff. These twohouses gi ve us the opportunity to spre a dthe wo rd of bat conservation to hun-d re d s , perhaps thousands, of ch i l d re nand adults eve ry we e k .

And we have stre t ched our wings fa rb eyond the parks and re s o rt s , as theD i s n ey Wi l d l i fe Conservation Fund pro-motes wildlife conservation thro u g h


relationships with scientists, e d u c a t o rs ,and organizations committed to pre s e rv-ing Eart h ’s biodive rs i t y.

Financing for the fund comes in partf rom Disney ’s Add-a-Dollar Pro gra m ,under which our guests have the oppor-tunity to help conservation effo rts byc o n t ributing a dollar when they makep u rchases at the park . One hundred per-cent of the money is awa rded to non-p ro fit organizations that protect ands t u dy endange red and threatened ani-mals and their hab i t a t s .

H u n d reds of organizations have bene-fited from the fund, i n cluding many thatwo rk dire c t ly for bat conserva t i o n .Among Bat Conservation Intern a t i o n a lp ro grams that have re c e i ved support arethe Global Gra s s roots Conserva t i o nF u n d , Latin A m e rican Bat Conserva t i o nP ro j e c t ,Bats Aloft Field Research Pro j e c t ,and the Pro gram for the Conservation ofM i gra t o ry Bats.

Is all this effo rt wo rking? During the“soft opening” of the Maharaja Ju n g l eTrek in late 1998 and early 1999, g u e s t s

we re polled as they leftthe area on their favo ri t ea t t ra c t i o n .The bats neve rra n ked lower than sec-o n d , t railing only the dra-matic tige rs in populari t y.And sometimes, even inthe face of the tige rs ’fi e rce competition, t h ef ruit bats ruled polls.“ B a t s ,” c o n cluded oneg u e s t ,“ a re the cutest ani-mals in the park .”

Ti ge rs are always andp re d i c t ably popular. I tt u rns out that just gi v i n gpeople the opport u n i t yto see and learn a littleabout bats can put thesemu ch-maligned mammalsin the same catego ry.T h a t ’s the magic of theK i n g d o m .

A larger-than-life bat peers out over Disney’s Animal Kingdom from its prominent perch on the Tree ofLife, which features 300 hand-carved animal sculptures.

MARK CHAG is an Animal Keeper atDisney’s Animal Kingdom.

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort now includes a pair of bat houses that are part of thewildlife experience for visiting schoolchildren.

Volume 21, No. 2 S U M M E R 2 0 0 3 B AT S5

In fact, the Rattlesnake House was home to a thr iving colony ofTow n s e n d ’s big-eared bats (C o ry n o r h i nu st ow n s e n d i i) , w h i ch was using the cru m-bling cabin as a nu rs e ry where fe m a l e sraised their yo u n g . P rotecting those batsp roved a pro d i gious ch a l l e n ge that ulti-m a t e ly re q u i red not only moving thewhole cab i n , but building a replica of it toc o nvince the bats to make the move .A n deven then, success was far from cert a i n .

Mazama resident Kent Wo o d ru ff, a U. S .Fo rest Service wildlife biologist and alocal authority on bats, d i s c ove red thenu rs e ry colony about six ye a rs ago .W h i l ep re p a ring to conduct a wo rkshop onN o rt h we s t e rn bats,he said,“ I ’d been look-ing around and stopped in there andfound a bunch of bats, both moms and

by Ann McCreary

Townsend’s big-eared bats follow a wandering roost

Cabin Bats

Cabin Bats

T he rickety old cabin known as the Rattlesnake House seemed little more than a scenicremnant of Methow Valley’s past. Built some 90 years ago, near Mazama in northernWashington, the cabin had sat empty for half a century — or so people thought.

their yo u n g . It appeared the bats hadbeen in there for ye a rs .”

Tow n s e n d ’s big-eared bats are ,Wo o d ru ff say s , an uncommon speciest h a t ’s found in low nu m b e rs fro mB ritish Columbia to Mex i c o . The batsa re considered a “species of concern ,”w h i ch means they re q u i re concentra t e dc o n s e rvation effo rts to prevent theird e cl i n e .The Rattlesnake House nu rs e ryc o l o ny of 100 to 200 females and theiryoung was an exciting discove ry.

A few ye a rs ago , the cab i n ’s futurewas threatened when the pro p e rt ych a n ged hands. H oweve r, the newowner agreed to donate the building —p rovided it could be re l o c a t e d . S oWo o d ru ff came up with a plan to movethe 24-by - 3 0 - foot (7.3-by - 9 . 1 - m e t e r )

s t ru c t u re to a new site about a half mile(0.8 kilometer) away.

But he wa s n ’t at all sure the ra m-s h a ckle cabin would surv i ve the move ,so he decided fi rst to build anotherhome for the bats near the planned newsite of Rattlesnake House and similar to itin appeara n c e .

“ We salvaged old barn boards andm a t e rials to put on the new house tom a ke it look and smell and appear old,”Wo o d ru ff said.

With a crew of vo l u n t e e rs and fi n a n-cial backing from Bat Conserva t i o nI n t e rnational and seve ral other conserva-tion groups and gove rnment age n c i e s ,wo rk on the new bat cabin began ins p ring 2001. The goal was to finish then ew cabin befo re the bats disappeare d

Townsend’s big-eared bats moveback into the Rattlesnake Houseafter it was loaded on a truck andrelocated.


for their winter hibern a t i o n . The oldc abin wa s n ’t moved until after the batshad left in the fa l l .

“ We wanted to gi ve the bats an oppor-tunity to discover the new bat house[ b e fo re they left for the winter] so if theyre t u rned to the Rattlesnake House and itwas go n e , t h ey would remember then ew house,” Wo o d ru ff said. The newh o u s e , completed in September 2001,was designed to be more cave - l i ke andi n a c c e s s i ble to other animals so it wo u l dbe more attra c t i ve to the bats.

The old building, laboriously mount-ed on a truck and semitrailer,was movedin October. After major reconstruction,the roof was finally nailed back on inDecember, just before the first snowfall.Then it was just a matter of waiting tosee if the bats would settle back intotheir relocated home (or the new house)the following summer.

That spring and summer, Wo o d ru ffkept ch e cking the houses, and always hefound them empty.“I was pretty discour-aged actually. I wa t ched and wa t ched allsummer long and for some re a s o n , t h ey

d i d n ’t show up. I ’dp retty mu ch gi ven upand thought, ‘ M ay b en ext summer ...’ ”

M oving the oldhouse and building an ew one we re ex-p e n s i ve undert a k-i n g s , and Wo o d ru ffand his vo l u n t e e rshad invested hun-d reds of hours . B u the knew all along that success was neve ra sure thing.

“As biologi s t s , one of the things wek n ow is that we usually can’t unders t a n dw hy animals live where they do,”he said.“ We only guess at some of the things thatmight make a particular place suitable too c c u py.T h a t ’s what I was doing.We hadre c o rded thousands of tempera t u re mea-s u rements in the old Rattlesnake Houseto get info rmation about it, and it helpedpaint a picture of what we needed to dowith the new house.”

B e fo re leaving on vacation in Au g u s t ,Wo o d ru ff decided to ch e ck on the bat

h o u s e s . This time, when he peered intothe Rattlesnake House, he found to hiss u r p rise and delight that “it was full ofb a t s .” He beat a quick re t reat so hewo u l d n ’t disturb them.

The bats remained there for anothermonth befo re leaving in September.Wo o d ru ff initially found two or thre ebats in the new house and speculatedthat they we re bachelor males, w h od o n ’t live with the females and bab i e s .B ythe end of the summer, a female and herpup had moved into the new house.

The old and new cabins are on landa c q u i red by the Trust for Public Land and

Loaded on the back of a semitrailer, the ramshackle Rattlesnake House, long favored by bats as aroosting site, begins a half-mile journey to its new location.

A volunteer works on the roof of a replica cabin built aspart of an elaborate plan to relocate a colony ofTownsend’s big-eared bats.

Volume 21, No. 2 7S U M M E R 2 0 0 3 B AT S

T ownsend’s big-eared bats can beespecially tough to study because theyare extremely sensitive to human dis-

turbance. “They will abandon their roosts andmove on if they are bothered,” says U.S. ForestService Biologist Kent Woodruff.

In one location in Washington’s MethowValley, researchers have set up an observation

area in an old building that is used by a nursery colony of Townsend’s big-eared bats(Corynorhinus townsendii). Scientists can enter the observation area from outside thebuilding and, using night-vision equipment, observe the colony without disturbing the bats.

In the 1830s, a naturalist named John Kirk Townsend recorded the first big-eared bats inthe region that would later become Washington state. The bats, as their name suggests, arenotable for their very large ears — an intriguing adaptation. Townsend’s big-eared bats areincredibly sensitive to the faint sounds made by their prey, hearing even the footsteps ofinsects.

Additionally, Townsend’s bats are classic examples of the coupled predator-prey evolutionseen in some species of bats and insects. Some moths evolved the ability to hear the high-fre-

quency echolocation calls bats use on the hunt. One way bats responded is by“whispering” their echolocation calls so the moths can’t hear them. These bats areamong the quietest of whisperers.

Townsend’s big-eared bats are not only “aerial hawkers” that snag moths andother flying insects out of the air, but they are also “gleaners.” That means,Woodruff says, “that they can fly up to a bush or tree and examine it with theirecholocation, looking at it with their ears, and determine whether something lookslike a leaf or twig, or if it looks like a bug, and pluck it off the bush.” They caneven hover like helicopters over foliage as they hunt.

Male Townsend’s big-eared bats are mostly solitary, while females createnursery colonies to rear their pups. Woodruff is studying nursery colonies up anddown the Methow Valley.

While one of these adult bats would fit in the palm of a person’s hand, thebabies are so small at birth that two would fit in a thimble. Within about threeweeks, however, the young are almost fully grown, and by five weeks, they arebeginning to fly outside the roost.

A crucial puzzle Woodruff is trying to solve is where the valley’s Townsend’sbig-eared bats go to hibernate each winter. “I don’t think they migrate far,” hesays. “They’re not built to go long distances.” But they need a location where tem-peratures don’t drop below freezing, which can be difficult to find in the MethowValley.

“We need to know where they go in the wintertime. It’s a key part of their survival, and it’san intriguing mystery to me.”

ANN MCCREARY

Big-eared bat notes

Townsend’s big-eared bats can now choose between two homes: the 90-year-oldRattlesnake House (background) they’ve used for years and a new version builtspecifically for them.

ANN MCCREARY is a writer based in Washington.

TH E E F F O R T T O P R E S E RV E T H I S TO W N S E N D’S B I G-E A R E D B AT

C O L O N Y WA S S U P P O R T E D B Y several agencies and organi-zations, including Bat Conservation International,Bats Northwest, the Methow Institute Foundation,

Trust for Public Land, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,Washington Bat Working Group, Wa s h i n g t o n

Conservation Corps, Washington Department of Fishand Wildlife, and Wastman Construction.

s u b s e q u e n t ly sold to a pri vate ow n e r,with the bat-house parcel designated,Wo o d ru ff said, “as a non-deve l o p abl epiece of gro u n d . And the new owner isve ry excited about wo rking with us.”

With the second summer coming up,the waiting game is on ag a i n , a l t h o u g hWo o d ru ff is more hopeful that the batswill re t u rn . If so, the ach i evement wo u l dbe considerabl e :“I am not awa re of any-one who has successfully moved aTow n s e n d ’s big-eared bat colony,”Wo o d ru ff said.

“ We will re a l ly want to wa t ch care f u l-ly to see what happens this ye a r,”he said.Will the bats pre fer their traditional ro o s tin Rattlesnake House, expand into bothh o u s e s , or perhaps choose the newe r,m o re secure home? Time will tell.


C o n s e rvation biology in Indiamust always be evaluated in thec o n t ext of its impact on bothw i l d l i fe and humans.The ch a l l e n geof providing basic necessities fo rthis enormous population is daunt-i n g , and it is incre a s i n g ly diffi c u l tto justify conservation of natura lre s o u rces in the face of ab j e c tp ove rt y, h u n ge r, and the despera t eneed for more space. The hab i t a tava i l able for fl o ra and fauna isd e c reasing at an astonishing ra t e ,l e aving many tiny fragments likel i fe rafts adrift in a sea of humanity.

Against this back d ro p , t h ef u t u re of India’s bats — and con-s e rvation biology in ge n e ral —might seem hopelessly bl e a k . Ye tt h e re is hope.This hope arises notf rom the nation’s leaders and poli-c y m a ke rs , but from the people: t h en o n gove rnment organizations andthe many gra s s roots groups thatchampion the cause of sustainabl e

d evelopment and the pre s e rvation of nat-u ral hab i t a t s .

These groups ra n ge from intern a t i o n a lentities all the way down to diffuse net-wo rks in small towns and village s . M o rethan a thousand such groups exist inI n d i a , and most are intimately invo l ved inlocal and re gional issues.T h ey hunger fo ri n fo rm a t i o n .Education fo rms the core fo rm a ny of them; t h ey are eager not only tol e a rn about organisms and their ecologi-cal ro l e s , but also to disseminate thisi n fo rmation to others . For too long, weh ave emphasized a top-down appro a ch .While this has met with limited success,recent trends stro n g ly suggest that thef u t u re lies at the grass ro o t s .

South Asia has 123 species of bats,a n dalmost all of them reside in India. T h eyaccount for one-fo u rth of India’s mammalfauna and more than one-tenth of thewo r l d ’s bat species.

B a t s ’ role in pollination,seed dispers a l ,and pest control remains mostly undocu-m e n t e d , although their economic bene-

P r o t e c t i n gthe Bats of India

by Shahroukh Mistry

In d i a ’s population grew to more than one billion peopleas the new millennium began.Within a few decades, it isexpected to surpass China and become the most popu-

lous country the world has ever seen.With one-third the landa rea of the United States, India has nine times the humand e n s i t y. So many people cannot help but leave a broad anddeep fo o t p rint on the landscape.

India’s lesser false vampire bat (Megaderma spasma) is both an insecteater and a carnivore that feeds on small reptiles and rodents.

Signs of progress amid daunting challenge

Volume 21, No. 2 9S P R I N G 2 0 0 3 B AT S

fits must be enormous in a large ly agra ri-an country like India.

Bats in India face catastrophic loss ofh ab i t a t , w h i ch decreases fo raging are a s ,reduces prey populations, and oftenfo rces bats to live in and around humanh ab i t a t i o n s . This proximity to humans,e s p e c i a l ly when such stru c t u res as tem-p l e s , t u n n e l s , and arch a e o l o gical ru i n sa re used as ro o s t s , often create thegravest threats to bat populations.

In re s p o n s e , Bat Conserva t i o nI n t e rnational has been wo rking for twodecades to help protect India’s bats andtheir hab i t a t s . An early victory came in1 9 8 7 , when BCI Scientific Advisor M.K.C h a n d ra s h e k a ran and BCI Fo u n d e rMerlin Tuttle helped convince officials tocancel quarrying leases that would haved e s t royed vital bat caves in Samanar Hillin southern India. BCI also collab o ra t e dwith Chandra s h e k a ran to produce ah u ge ly successful exhibit and a Bats ofI n d i a p u bl i c a t i o n .

S eve ral young scientists, i n cluding the

author a decade ago , re c e i ved BCIStudent Research Sch o l a rships for wo rkin India. And BCI’s Global Gra s s ro o t sC o n s e rvation Fund has gi ven seve ra lrecent grants that support local bat-con-s e rvation pro j e c t s .

In 1972, India instituted the Wi l d l i feP rotection Act (WPA) to protect its fa u n af rom indiscriminate harm . I ro n i c a l ly, o n eof the catego ries (Schedule V) created bythis act ex p l i c i t ly identifies fruit bats,along with rats and mice, as ve rmin —t o t a l ly without pro t e c t i o n . I n s e c t i vo ro u sbats fa red better simply because theywe re not mentioned at all.

For nearly 20 ye a rs , individuals ando rg a n i z a t i o n s , i n cluding BCI, the Wo r l dC o n s e rvation Union (IUCN), M a d u ra iK a m a raj Unive rs i t y, and the ZooO u t re a ch Organization (ZOO) have beenl o bbying the fe d e ral gove rnment tore m ove fruit bats from Schedule V andgi ve them some pro t e c t i o n . BCI mem-b e rs and scientific advisors launch e dt h ree separate letter-writing campaigns

u rging this ch a n ge .A revision of the Wi l d l i fe Pro t e c t i o n

Act has been under way for seve ral ye a rs ,and increasing pre s s u re has been appliedto ch a n ge the status of bats. In the mostp romising development ye t , the Ministryof Env i ronment and Fo rests lastSeptember approved adding two batspecies to Schedule I, w h i ch mandatesthe greatest pro t e c t i o n . The additionstook effect Ap ril 1.

One new ly protected species is thesmall Salim A l i ’s fruit bat (Latidens salim -a l i i) , w h i ch was known from just onelocation in southern India until ve ryre c e n t ly. It has now been discove red att h ree more sites in two additional south-e rn states. This bodes well for a speciesthat was believed to be ex c e p t i o n a l lyra re and endange re d . In an ironic twistthat can happen only when bure a u c ra t sm a ke scientific decisions, the ge n e ri ccl a s s i fication of “ f ruit bats”still remains inS chedule V. T h u s , L a t i d e n s has the dubi-ous distinction of having the highest

The greatest challenge facing conservationists in India is the exploding population of a nation that will soon be the most populous on Earth. This is a street scene in Bombay.


l evel of protection while still being cl a s-s i fied as ve rm i n .

The other protected species isW ro u g h t o n ’s free-tailed bat (O t o m o p sw ro u g h t o n i) , an insectivo re that hadbeen known in just one cave in southernI n d i a . Repeated surveys of this cave ,s t a rting almost a century ago , i n d i c a t ethe population has ch a n ged ve ry little,remaining at just 40 to 100 bats. T h i sroost is threatened by possible dam con-s t ruction in the are a ,as well as by humanactivity and specimen collection.

The good news is that O t o m o p s wa sre c e n t ly found in Meghalaya (in nort h-e a s t e rn India) and in Mya n m a r, s u g ge s t-ing a mu ch broader distri b u t i o n .

Achieving most-protectedstatus for these two batspecies is a small but verysignificant step forward. It isan achievement that wouldnot have been possible with-out the dedicated and per-sistent support of scientistsand conservation gro u p saround the world.

The next extremely diffi-cult goal is to remove allfruit bats from the verminc a t e go ry and to cre a t eawareness of the ecologicaland economic benefits ofinsectivorous species.

M e a n w h i l e , p ro gress isbeing made on the scientifi c

and educational fro n t . In 1997, aC o n s e rvation Assessment and Manage-ment Plan (CAMP) wo rkshop was heldin Bangalore , I n d i a , to assign conserva-tion status to each of 400 mammalspecies in India, i n cluding more than 100b a t s . As a result of this wo rk s h o p , a nu n p recedented netwo rk was fo rmed toe n c o u rage and promote the study andc o n s e rvation of bats in India.

The Chiro p t e ra Conservation andI n fo rmation Netwo rk of South A s i a(CCINSA) has nearly 100 scientific mem-b e rs . Its creation was spearheaded byS a l ly Wa l ker at ZOO and BCI Scientifi cAdvisor G. M a ri muthu at Madurai Kamra jU n i ve rs i t y. T h ey have done an outstand-ing job in organizing wo rk s h o p s , as we l las producing Web sites, n ew s l e t t e rs , a n d

Short-nosed fruit bats (Cynopterus sphinx), like the one pol-linating a wild banana flower (above) and those in a treeroost (at right) are important pollinators and seed-dispersersin India. Like other Indian fruit bats, however, they are classi-fied as ‘vermin.’


educational material fo rs ch o o l s . Wa l ke r ’s effo rt sh ave been supported bya pair of BCI GlobalG ra s s roots grants begi n-ning in 2001.

In Ja nu a ry 2002, asecond CAMP wo rk-s h o p , c o s p o n s o red byB C I , re evaluated India’sbats and expanded thescope to cover neigh-b o ring nations of SouthA s i a . Fo rt y - t h ree batex p e rts from India,N e p a l , S ri Lanka, a n dM yanmar spent fi ve day sevaluating 120 speciesand concluded that fullyo n e - fo u rth of bat speciesin South Asia are endan-ge red or vulnerabl e .

P rotecting the bats ofIndia re q u i res action onmultiple fronts and at alll eve l s . G ra s s roots educa-tion is vital and needss i g n i ficant support .L ow -

cost educational materi a l s , s u ch as thosep roduced by ZOO, for distribution tolocal groups throughout the nation arec rucial in educating the public about theb e n e ficial role of bats in the ecosystem.

M u ch greater emphasis should beplaced on the role of insectivo rous batsin aiding agri c u l t u re through pest re d u c-t i o n . S u p p o rt for studies that ex a m i n etheir feeding habits and expand publ i cawa reness should be a high pri o ri t y.L a s t ly,as alway s ,the gove rnment needs tobe constantly encouraged to re m ove fru i tbats from its ve rmin catego ry and to pro-tect these highly beneficial cre a t u re s .

By the year 2050, India will have apopulation of 1.5 billion. The conserva-tion ch a l l e n ges that lie ahead make thoseof the twentieth century pale by compar-i s o n . But we are making pro gress and thecause is far from lost.

SHAHROUKH MISTRY, a member of BCI’s Scientific

Advisory Board, is an Assistant Professor of Biology atWestminster College. He has worked on issues relatingto bat conservation in India for 12 years and is cur-rently working on a project to identify hot spots of batdiversity in South Asia.

B ats d o n ’t figure into forest management in India, butlocal bat conservationists are trying desperately tochange that. The Chiroptera Conservation and

I n f o rmation Network of South Asia hopes to teach Indianf o resters and policymakers about the importance of bats andhow to survey them and factor them into management of publicf o rests. To achieve that, the network is requesting a $2,000 grantf rom BCI’s Global Grassroots Conservation Fund. The fund, how-e v e r, is already overcommitted, and this important goal cannot b eachieved without new support from BCI members.

To leave your personal mark on bat conservation in India, please contact BCI Executive Director Robb Hankins at(512) 327-9721 or r h a n k i n s @ b a t c o n . o r g.

Sally Walker (left) and colleagues at the Zoo Outreach Organizationexamine educational material, much of it from BCI, that they will use toexplain the benefits of bats in India. Walker is a founder of the ChiropteraConservation and Information Network of South Asia.

Populations of the Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus), with a wingspan of up to fourfeet (1.2 meters), are declining in India.

Make a Difference in IndiaMake a Difference in India


Bat Smells

Bats seem to use their sense of smellfor many critical tasks that we are onlynow starting to unravel. Mother free-tailed bats apparently use smell to helpidentify their offspring in crowded nurs-ery roosts, to recognize one another,andto attract mates.

As a bat rehabilitator for many years, Ihave cared for thousands of bats, and Ioften describe the bats I care for interms of their distinctive odors. Eveningbats (Nycticeius humeralis) smell likeburnt oranges and reproductively activefree-tailed bats like fungus. Even individ-uals of the same species seem to havedistinct odors.

I can often detect bacterial infectionsin the bats I care for by smell alone.Thisisn’t really surprising: Before the advent

of modern technology, physicians oftenused their sense of smell to diagnose ill-ness in people.

As for the Mexican free-tailed bats(Tadarida brasiliensis), the compoundresponsible for the odor is called 2-a m i n o a c e t o p h e n o n e . It is present inproducts made from masa, the cornflour used in tortillas and many otherfoods and is an important flavoring inbeer, some wines, teas, and other foodproducts. 2-aminoacetophenone is alsoemitted by the queen honeybee.

The chemical secrets of odors comesfrom Larry Nielsen, David Eaton, andDonald W right of Micro a n a lytics inRound Rock, Texas. They designed anelaborate system called AromaTrax™ toconnect odors to the chemical com-

pounds that cause them.Odor compounds from any particular

item are absorbed onto a thin, polymerfilm. Then they are released into a gaschromatograph for detection at a “sniffport” that identifies which compoundsare producing each odor. A number ofmanufacturers in an assortment of indus-t ries have contracted with Micro-analytics to determine the source of aro-mas associated with their pro d u c t s ,either to eliminate offensive odors or toaccentuate pleasant ones.

The chemists at Micro a n a ly t i c snoticed the familiar taco-shell aro m awhile driving past a large bat roost inRound Rock. Intrigued, they contactedBCI and eventually lowered one of theirpencil-sized instruments into the venti-

Stand near the mouth ofmost any cave favo re dby Mexican fre e - t a i l e d

b a t s , t a ke a deep bre a t h , a n ds n i ff the air. Those with a dis-c e rning nose may notice thatthe pungent wave of odorsi n cludes a pleasantly fa m i l i a rs m e l l : the aroma of fresh cornt o rt i l l a s . In fa c t , a pri m a ry odorof both bat roosts and tort i l l a sis produced by the same ch e m-ical compound.

How aromas affect bat behaviorby Barbara French

Larry Nielsen of Microanalytics of Round Rock, Texas, uses the sniff port of his company’s AromaTrax™ unit to identify the chemical components of odors.


lating shaft of Bracken Cave, near SanAntonio, Texas. Back in the lab, theyidentified dozens of compounds amongthe cave smells, including that mostcharacteristic odor of the Mexican free-tails: 2-aminoacetophenone.

Using the same instrument, we col-lected samples from captive bats. Thecharacteristic odor was present in roostsand urine samples from my captive free-tailed bats - but not from the other batspecies, including a hoary bat (Lasiurusc i n e re u s) , a nort h e rn ye l l ow bat(L a s i u rus interm e d i u s) , a nevening bat, and a cave myo t i s(M yotis ve l i fe r).

The AromaTrax™ technolo-

gy is likely to prove a powerful tool forbat researchers in the future.The bats inmy care engage in a variety of scent-related behavior that might be illumi-nated through such research.

Another bat re h abb e r,Amanda Lollar,and I have wa t ched many a Mex i c a nf ree-tail male dri bble urine and rub thegular gland on his throat against cages u r faces and roosting pouch e s . By vigo r-o u s ly ru bbing the top of his head in thiss t i cky mixture , a bat marks both himselfand his tiny terri t o ry and cl e a r ly signals

the pre s e n c eof an amoro u sm a l e .

Male sac-w i n ged bats(S a c c o p t e ry xb i l i n e a t a )u n d e rt a ke asimilar kindof “ p e r f u m ebl e n d i n g ” bymixing uri n e

and other secre-tions in specialsacs on theirw i n g s . These aro-matic sacs openand close as theyhover in front of

females, fanning their scent toward theobjects of their affection.

I ’ve also noticed that fre e - t a i l e dfemales that have just given birth have avery distinctive odor.A new mother typ-ically rubs her glandular face on her pup,and apparently uses these chemical cuesand special vocalizations to locate andidentify her own infant among thou-sands or millions of others that often arejammed together in caves.

AromaTrax™ and other smell-relatedt e ch n o l o gies may help cl a rify suchb e h avior and identify other ways inwhich bats use odors. The technologymight permit us to identify species ofbats roosting in inaccessible sites orspecies that use a roost seasonally butare not currently present. It might evenbe used to develop attractants to enticebats to artificial roosts.

We have so much yet to learn abouthow bats interact with odors that it’shard to predict where new knowledgemight lead us and what uses we mightfind for it.We have barely scratched (andsniffed) the surface.

BARBARA FRENCH is BCI’s Science Officer and the BatRehabilitator for Wildlife Rescue in Austin, Texas. Moreabout AromaTrax™ is available online atwww.mdgc.com.

The powerful odors from roosts used by Mexican free-tailed bats (these are crowded into Texas’ Ney Cave) include the familiar smell of fresh corn tortillas. That’s because both produce an odorcompound known to chemists as 2-aminoacetophenone.

Evening bats like these exude a distinctive aroma similar to the smell of burnt oranges.

© ME R L I N D . T U T TL E , B C I \ 8 31 - 1 2 0 1

Bat Conservation International, despite shrinking revenue in the faceof a harsh national economy, achieved major successes this pastyear.That’s mostly due to the special generosity of many BCI mem-

bers, to a committed staff and dedicated volunteers, and to the partnerships and alliances we havebuilt over two decades of bat conservation. Here is but a small sampling of BCI’s recent achieve-ments. We need your support now more than ever to maintain these and other importantprograms in the year ahead.


HighlightsA brief review of some of BCI’s accomplishments in the last year...

Teaching

Caves and minesOne of Nevada’s most significant maternity colonies of pallidbats is now protected, thanks to the installation of a bat-friend-ly gate across the entrance to Murphy Mine. Gating the aban-doned mine was accomplished by BCI and partners from theNevada Division of Wildlife and Florida Canyon MiningCompany.

BCI’s Jim Kennedy and Pat Morton of Texas Parks & Wildlifedemonstrate radiotelemetry gear during a live Webcast, co-hosted by TPW and BCI, that taught more than 20,000 studentsalong the U.S.-Mexico border about Texas bats and caves.

C o n s e rvation grantsPaul Cryan used a BCI Student Research Scholarship grant tostudy migratory patterns of tree-roosting bats in NorthAmerica. This is a hoary bat.

NIGHT-VISION SCOPES AND BAT DETECTORS

helped give about 100 adults and chil-dren an in-depth education about batsin forests during BCI’s Bat EducationNights in three Minnesota parks.

• BCI produced the latest in its populars e ries of bilingual ch i l d re n ’s books

A G AT E AT T H E LU C K Y JI M MI N E I N

C a l i fo rn i a ’s Old Woman MountainsWi l d e rness A rea now protects amaternity colony of fringed myotisand a winter colony of California leaf-nosed bats. The U.S. Bureau of LandM a n agement and the Califo rn i aD e p a rtment of Conservation part-nered with BCI.

• An Au s t i n , Tex a s , symposium on caveand mine p rotection stra t e gi e s , c o -s p o n s o red by BCI, the U. S . Fish andWi l d l i fe Serv i c e , and the U. S . O ffice ofS u r face Mining,d rew about 200 peoplera n ging from cave rs and contra c t o rs tob i o l o gists and gove rnment offi c i a l s .

• BCI,The Nature Conservancy, and theSoutheastern Cave Conservancy pro-tected Tennessee’s Wolf River Cave,

BCI S U P P O RT A L LOW E D T H E RO M A N I A N

Eco Studia Society to conduct work-shops on monitoring and protectingcave-dwelling bats in Romania.

• Robert Kityo, a graduate student atUganda’s Makerere University, learnedn ew bat-monitoring techniques byattending a wo rkshop in Kwa Z u l u -Natal, South Africa, with the co-spon-sorship of BCI.

• BCI co-sponsored a Conserva t i o nAssessment and Management Wo rk-shop for South Asian Chiroptera atMadurai Kamaraj University in India.The workshop helped win first-everprotected status for two Indian batspecies.

home to about 2,550 endange re dIndiana bats and a smaller number ofendangered gray myotis.


ScienceRodrigo Medellin surveys lesser long-nosed bats at anArizona cave as part of collaborative efforts, including thoseof BCI, to save this endangered species. Preliminary surveyresults from Arizona and northern Mexico now find popula-tions stable or increasing slightly.

WorkshopsA Kentucky workshop on Bat Conservation and ForestManagement, co-sponsored by BCI, introduced foresters fromstate and federal agencies, industry, and other organizationsto the latest information on how best to incorporate bats (likethis red bat mother and pups) into forest management.Bat houses

BCI’s bat house research has dramatically improved the suc-cess rate for bat houses, whether installed on farms or inneighborhoods. In fact, when approved nursery houses areinstalled according to BCI recommendations, about 85 percentof them have attracted bats.

FOR E S T E R S O F PAY E TT E NAT I O N A L FO R E S T I N

Idaho are part n e ring with BCI todevelop a survey, research, and man-agement plan for bats and mines.Thiscomprehensive approach to the prob-lem is seen as a model for othernational forests.

• BCI partners are surveying bats in theRepechon Caves of Bolivia’s CarrascoNational Park to determine bat speciesand population sizes, with educationalprograms planned for area schools.

BC I ’S NO RT H AM E R I C A N BAT HO U S E

Research Project, with about 1,200volunteer Research Associates, is mon-itoring the success of bat houses in 33U.S. states, three Canadian provinces,and the Cayman Islands.

• A study into the insect-control valueof bats on organic farms continues inCalifornia’s Central Valley, where 45bat houses have now been installedon 10 organic farms.

• Rafinesque’s big-eared bats that have

LE A D E R S O F B C I ’S U . S . -MEXICO PROGRAM for theC o n s e rvation of Migra-tory Bats described theirwo rk at the fi rst batworkshop in Guatemala,where initial plans wered eveloped to create asimilar organization de-voted to bats.

• Texas Department ofTransportation represen-t a t i ves we re amongthose who learned abouta rt i ficial roosts at anI n t ro d u c t o ry Bat Wo rk-shop, co-hosted by BCI,

about bats: Semillas de Barbarita, laM u rc i é l a ga — Seeds from LittleBarbara, the Bat, which explores theecological values of fruit-eating andseed-dispersing bats.

• Talking Talons, a New Mexico-basedenvironmental education program, isadding BCI materials to its educationalp a ck age s , w h i ch re a ch 10,000 stu-dents a year.

• BCI Founder Merlin Tuttle presented abat-conservation lecture to an audi-ence of 3,000 at the pre s t i gi o u sChautauqua Institution in New York.

lost their traditional homes in hugetree hollows are now being providedwith an alternative. Thanks to earlysupport from Walter Sedgwick, BCIand its partners are achieving promis-ing success in early experiments withvertically stacked concrete culvertsthat mimic hollow trees.

The U.S. Postal Service, thanks largely to informal lobbying by BCI member CarolAdams of Texas, issued its first-ever stamps to feature bats. Photos on the fourstamps were by BCI Founder Merlin Tuttle. The stamps were launched at a ceremo-ny in Austin last September, and BCI used the festivities to deliver a bit of bat edu-cation to some 1,500 people.

in Terlingua, Texas. Now they’re plan-ning a bat abode at the Te r l i n g u aCreek Bridge.

When a nu rs e ry colony of little brown myotis (M yotis lucifugus) moved into al a rge picnic pavilion in a popular suburban fo rest in Illinois, a typical re s p o n s e

might have been to dri ve the bats away. I n s t e a d , the Lake County Fo rest Pre s e rve sposted signs:“Quiet! Bats Sleeping.”

That was seve ral ye a rs ago . N ow the bats, w h i ch number around 200 during thes u m m e r, own the ori ginal picnic shelter while humans enjoy a fre s h ly built pav i l i o nn e a r by.

M a rk Hurley, E nv i ronmental Educator for the agency that manages some 24,000fo rested acres about 40 miles from Chicago ,s ays visitors fi rst re p o rted the bats,w h i chhad moved into narrow crevices in the pavilion ro o f.The open shelter is big enoughto house about two dozen tables and sits in one of the county’s most popular fo re s t s .

Along with the signs, the pre s e rve s ’ s t a ff built a fence around the shelter to ke e ppeople out and built a new pavilion for picnicke rs . P ro grams on August eve n i n g s ,with educational talks highlighted by the bats’e m e rgence from the shelter for a nightof fo ragi n g , h ave proved popular.

The county agency is celebrating its nearly complete bat shelter and educationalexhibit June 15 with a Bat Fest that’s expected to draw up to 300 people. BCI mem-b e rs Jamie Godshalk and Marj Lundy will be honored guests at the Fe s t ; their $1,000donation made the exhibit possibl e .

With funding in hand, the agency hired wildlife artist Linda Wallis to develop ani n t e ra c t i ve exhibit aimed at both ch i l d ren and adults. A n d , H u r l ey say s , the county isso fond of its bats that it’s looking into enhancing the shelter.“The bats are using thec rev i c e s ,” he say s ,“so maybe we could cut a few more crevices in there for them.”


N E W S A N D N O T E S

The Lake County Forest Preserves turned this picnic pavilion over tothe bats that moved into it. Artist Linda Wallis (right) painted the edu-cational exhibit that now greets human visitors.

Picnic batsUnimin Corporation, a BCI partner in pro-

tecting bats in abandoned mines, wasawarded the Wildlife Habitat Council’sCorporate Habitat of the Year Award. Theaward to Unimin’s Tamms/Elco Plant insouthern Illinois recognizes voluntary effortsto restore and enhance wildlife habitat.

The plant’s 18-member wildlife teammanages 1,950 acres (789 hectares) of habi-tat for a variety of species. The site includesthe abandoned Magazine Mine, the hiberna-tion home of Illinois’ largest and now mostrapidly growing population of endangeredIndiana myotis (Myotis sodalis), as wellas other bat species.

Unimin, Bat Conservation International,the Illinois Department of Natural Resources,Southern Illinois University, the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service, and the U.S. ForestService erected a bat-friendly gate at one oftwo entrances to the mine in 1996. The mainentrance, however, was so unstable that ithad to be stabilized with engineered steelarches and treated timber posts. The projectwas completed in August 2001.

The latest winter census at the MagazineMine counted at least 28,999 bats — morethan 26,325 of them Indiana myotis.

Honors for a BCI Partner

Ray Smith of the U.S. Forest Service, Sheryl Ducummon ofBCI, and Siebert Crowley of Unimin Corporation helpedinstall this bat-friendly gate at the Magazine Mine.

17Volume 21, No. 2 S U M M E R 2 0 0 3 B AT S17

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You can save $14.95 by order-ing all five of BCI’s acclaimedbilingual books for children.Heartwarming and informative,these Spanish-English booksdescribe the lives of bats andhow they benefit the environ-ment. This beautiful collectionof all five books is just $25online! Use this SpecialCode: SBBI.

SAVING THE SMALLEST MAMMAL

The wo r l d ’s smallest mammal isthe cri t i c a l ly endange red bumbl e b e ebat (C ra s e o ny c t e ris thonglongya i) ofwe s t e rn T h a i l a n d . Also known asK i t t i ’s hog-nosed bat, it was fi rs td e s c ribed just 30 ye a rs ago . A T h a it e a m , led by biologist Medhi Yo k u b o l ,plans an eight-month project to deter-mine its current status and conv i n c e

local communities to help conserve its hab i t a t .The goal is tos u rvey 40 to 60 caves that re a ch beyond the bat’s ori gi n a lk n own ra n ge along the Kwae Noi Rive r.The re s e a rch e rs willassess agri c u l t u re , b u rn i n g , and other activities that mighta ffect the bats. A conservation plan will be pre p a red withinput from local commu n i t i e s . The team requests $2,857f rom BCI’s Global Gra s s roots Conservation Fund to com-plete funding for this important pro j e c t .

A HOME FOR PUPS

R a fi n e s q u e ’s big-eared bats (C o ry n o r h i nus ra fi n e s q u i i)l i ke to fo rm nu rs e ry colonies in the big hollow trees thatonce we re scattered throughout mature fo rests of the south-e a s t e rn U. S .But such trees are now ra re , and the species hasbeen declining for decades.B C I ’s North A m e rican Bat HouseR e s e a rch Project has developed art i ficial roosts that mimich o l l ow tre e s ,and Rafi n e s q u e ’s big-eared bats are using them.For a $500 donation, you can help purchase materials for aroost and gi ve some of these bats a place to raise their pups.

GATE A NURSERY COLONY

B l owing Hole Cave in Flori d a ’s Wi t h l a c o o chee State Fo re s twas home to a southeastern myotis (M yotis austro ri p a ri u s)m a t e rnity colony not long ago .The bats abandoned it after ani n a p p ro p riate cave gate was re p a i red without consideri n gthe bats. The cave , subject to intense human disturbance,needs a bat-fri e n d ly, c age-type gate over its ve rtical shaft.C ave-gating legend Roy Powe rs , past winner of BCI’sDistinguished Service Awa rd , has agreed to supervise build-ing the gate if funding can be obtained. Some money, m a t e ri-a l s , and vo l u n t e e rs is ava i l abl e , and the Florida Division ofFo re s t ry will coordinate the effo rt and provide additionall ab o r,t o o l s ,and materi a l s .The division is requesting a grant ofup to $5,000 from BCI to complete the pro j e c t .

Environmental Achievement

The U.S. Department of the Interior presented its 2002 Environmental Achievement Award to BCIand other members of the Bat Conservation and Mining Steering Committee. Faith Watkins (center)accepted on behalf of BCI. She is Coordinator of the North American Bats and Mines Project, whichled the project along with the federal Office of Surface Mining. Others sharing the award were NewMexico Department of Energy, Mining & Natural Resources and the Office of Surface Mining’s Mid-Continent Regional Coordinating Center.

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Each issue, BATS spotlights a few special needs that canmake a big difference for bat conservation. You can have a per-sonal impact by making one of these projects possible. To makea donation or for more information, please contact BCI’s Director

of Development at (512) 327-9721.

P.O. Box 162603Austin, TX 78716-2603 U.S.A.

A D D R E S S S E R V I C E R E Q U E S T E D

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE PA I D

A U S T I N , T E X A SPERMIT NO. 1530

Bridge Roosts

© ME R L I N D . T U TT LE , B C I \ 8 41 - 53 00

Homeless BatsMaking Room for

ART I F I C I A L RO O S T RE S E A R C H i sone of the most fascinating and crit-ical areas of bat conservation asnatural roosts disappear at analarming rate. Conventional bathouses offer alternative homes to 14species of bats, but others re q u i remuch more specialized roosts if theya re to survive. Bat ConservationInternational is seeking solutions.

You can help create homes for bats. Here’s how:◆ Install a BCI-certified bat house for your neighborhood bats. Shop our catalog online at w w w. b a t c o n . o r g .◆ This crucial BCI project, which needs $328 in research funds each day, is threatened by today’s harsheconomy. You can keep artificial roost research alive. To sponsor one or more days of research, contactBCI Executive Director Robb Hankins at (512) 327-9721 or [email protected].

Many bats roost under the peel-ing bark of dead or dying trees.Several types of artificial barkare proving remarkably success-ful as alternative roosts for thesebats in the American West. BCIhopes now to study the poten-tial of artificial bark for Easternspecies, especially the endan-gered Indiana myotis.

M a ny bats will roost in appro p ri a t espaces under bri d ges and ove r p a s s-e s . Just one percent of U. S . h i g h-

way stru c t u res now offer suitabl ero o s t s , but minor design modifi-

cations in new bri d ges coulde a s i ly provide homes for mil-

lions more bats. BCI is wo rk i n gto make that happen.We ’re alsotesting ways to add ro o s t i n gspaces to existing bri d ge s .

ArtificialBark

Stack roosts mimic thenow-rare big, hollowtrees that species such asRafinesque’s big-earedbats need for roosts. BCIhas seven prototypes inplace, and these bats areusing five of them. But

the expense of these roosts may limit theiruse.The next goal is to identify and test lesscostly ways of building similar roosts.

Stack Roosts

D i s n ey ’s Magic Cabin Bats Bats of Indi BATS · 2014-01-03 · WWW. B ATC ON . OR G SUMMER 2003 B AT CONSERVAT ION IN T ERN AT ION A L Bats of India BATS D i s n ey ’s Magic

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