Photograph by Joel Sartore with Cole Sartore, National Geographic Creative
Bats have long been associated with vampires, witches, and Halloween. But their bad reputation looks more like a trick than a treat.
Bats matter in a big way in countless ecosystems around the world. In truth, the only thing scary about bats is the rate at which they're disappearing.
Bats are a wildly diverse order of mammals, with more than 1,300 species worldwide. About one out of every five mammal species is a bat.
Despite the way they're often depicted in movies and television, only three species of bats feed exclusively on blood. Most species—around 70 percent—dine on insects, making them invaluable partners in human agriculture by removing crop pests. The rest eat nectar and fruit and serve as some of the best pollinators and seed dispersers on the planet.
Unfortunately, these creatures are in serious trouble.
"Bats are facing many threats, including impacts from wind energy, loss of habitat, and the disease known as white-nose syndrome," said Ann Froschauer, public affairs supervisor at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and a longtime bat advocate.
Bat Mortality
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), white-nose syndrome has killed more than six million bats in just six years.
To help inform the world about bats and their plight, the FWS and the USDA have teamed up to present a whole week of bat education and awareness—just in time for Halloween!
"The first National Bat Week is sort of symbolic of growing interest in bat conservation and education," said Froschauer. "It's a really great opportunity for us to work with partners like Bat Conservation International, the Organization for Bat Conservation, and the Save Lucy Campaign so that we can educate people about why bats are so important and why we need more bat conservation and research."
National Bat Week has even gained the support of several celebrities, including the new Batman himself, Ben Affleck. To learn how you can help save bats, watch the cast and crew of Batman vs. Superman discuss bat conservation in the video below or go to www.savebats.org.
Above, a Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) comes in for a close-up as it leaves its cave to hunt. Every night from March to October, 1.5 million of these bats stream out from beneath a bridge in downtown Austin, Texas. Tourists come from all over to witness the exodus. (Watch: )
—By Jason Bittel, photo gallery by Nicole Werbeck
Published October 30, 2014
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment