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www.thevillagenews.co.za
27 May 2020
MY ENVIRONMENT
Batty about bats By Anina Lee
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However, according to Merlin Tuttle of Bat Conservation International, A closer look at what science knows about bats strongly suggests that the scientific and media furore is at best overstated, and is likely a distraction from more serious research and health problems. Above all, it turns out that while we certainly should be concerned about bats, we probably don’t need to worry very much about what they might do to us. Rather, we should be worrying about what we are doing to bats. Bats comprise almost a quarter of all mammal species on earth! There are, in fact, about 1 000 species of bats worldwide; 53 species occur in South Africa, of which 12 are found in the Western Cape, but because of their nocturnal habits we are largely unaware of them. Bats play a vital ecological role and are a benefit to man in many direct and indirect ways. For example, through eating huge numbers of insects such as malaria-carrying mosquitoes, bats contribute directly to human health. Yet through ignorance and stubborn myths they are feared and persecuted. About 50% of South-African bats are threatened. Bats have been around for a very long time – something like 55 million years. Unlike rodents, which are prolific breeders, bats are amongst the slowest reproducing mammals in the world, giving birth to only one or two pups per year. Up to 70% of the pups may die in the first year.
Fruit-eating or Mega-bats They are larger than the micro-bats and have big eyes and long, doglike muzzles – hence their common name, ‘flying foxes’. Most fruit bats do not echolocate, but use their excellent senses of sight and smell to find the nectar and fruit on which they feed. More than 300 plants and 400 economically important products require fruit bats for pollination and/or seed dispersal, e.g. the baobab tree, mangoes, paw paws, guavas, bananas and figs. Debunking some myths about bats • Bats are not blind. All bats have eyes; indeed fruit bats need excellent sight to fly at night to find the fruit on which they feed. • Bats are not dirty and don’t spread disease. In fact, they are very clean – they groom themselves after every meal. They are less likely than dogs to spread disease. • Bats will not get tangled in your hair or suck your blood. Bats are excellent navigators and fliers. Their echolocation or sonar is so accurate that they are unlikely even to touch you as they fly past, let alone get tangled in your hair. Only the vampire bats found in South America feed on the blood of animals – rarely humans. • Bats are harmless to people, and useful to farmers. Insectivorous bats are the most important predators of nocturnal insect pests. Fruit bats consume over-ripe fruits left after harvesting, preventing them from rotting and harbouring fruit fly maggots. And, bat droppings (guano) make excellent fertiliser. • A healthy bat community indicates a healthy planet! Long associated with witches and vampires, many species of bats are now threatened with extinction due to a combination of habitat destruction, pesticides and, above all, people's negative attitudes towards bats. 1
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At least 12 bat species occur in the Western Cape.
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Some of the more common ones are the: 1. Schreiber’s Long-fingered Bat 2. Egyptian Fruit Bat 3. Cape Serotine Bat 4. Geoffroy’s Horseshoe Bat
PHOTO: iNaturalist
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Bats belong to the order Chiroptera (meaning ‘hand-wing’). They can basically be grouped into two main groups, namely the micro-bats (predominantly insectivorous) and mega-bats (fruit-eating ‘flying foxes’). Insect-eating or Micro-bats As the name implies, these are small bats. They have tiny eyes and rely mainly on echo-location or sonar to navigate and to find their prey. They are extremely effective at pest-control and are therefore very useful to crop farmers. Some bats
PHOTO: Twee Rivieren Camp
have such excellent hearing that they can hear the wing-beats of the insects on which they feed, and use this to home in on their prey. Insect-eating bats help to control mosquitoes and therefore malaria. A colony of 300 000 long-fingered bats in the De Hoop Nature Reserve consumes an estimated 100 tonnes of insects per year!
t all started with SARS – not taxes, but the idea that bats could be responsible for the transmission of newly emerging and potentially deadly infectious diseases. In 2002 a new Coronavirus that caused severe respiratory infections appeared and killed 800 people, generating frightening headlines worldwide. Coronaviruses are widespread in animals, from birds to whales, and are the cause of common colds. A frenzy of research on bats was triggered, on the assumption that bats carry all sorts of deadly diseases.
PHOTO: Oregon Zoo
Contact Tinka at tinka.s@curro.co.za or on 028 316 4911. From 4 months to Grade 12 | Quality education for future leaders
028 316 4911 hermanus.admin@curro.co.za
PHOTO: Flickr
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