Bats are extremely beneficial animals, providing valuable services to the entire global natural ecosystem and human economy. However, they are also one of the most misunderstood animals. Besides being considered auspicious and lucky in China, bats have always been regarded as evil and frightening in many other regions.

Recently, there have been numerous negative reports about bats, and in this situation, we need to understand bats.

Author: Ya Zi

This article is reprinted from WeChat public account 'Wild Recollections' (ID: XJ-plant), the original text was first published on February 4, 2020, with the title 'Why Can't We Eliminate Bats? Bats Are Important'

Bats are a general term for the order of Chiroptera, which is the second largest group of mammals after rodents. Currently, there are about 1390 species of bats.

1. Ecological Significance

Many bat species feed on insects, including some extremely harmful agricultural pests.Others feed on fruits, flowers, flower nectar, which indirectly pollinates plants, ensuring the normal growth of plants that supply humans and various animals.

When we think of pollination by flowers, we usually think of bees and birds. Most people don't know that bats also play an important role in pollination.

Bats are often referred to as the 'night shift' team, while birds and bees are the 'day shift' team.

We all know how hard-working little bees are, but at night, bats are also working hard. Every year, 67 families and about 528 species of tropical plants are pollinated by bats, and 300 of them are fruit plants.Researcher says:'Bats help maintain forest ecological balance and provide us with delicious lychees.'

It is hoped that residents of Sulawesi will recognize the importance of bats and avoid hunting and destroying them.

Bat soup, such as Indonesian and Palau bat soup, uses bat meat as an ingredient.The rare Ptalalina genovensium bat is the only bat pollinator of several columnar cacti in Peru.The East African savanna's monkey bread tree is crucial for the survival of animals and is known as the 'African Tree of Life'. It almost completely relies on bat pollination. Without bats, the 'Tree of Life' may become extinct, threatening one of the Earth's most diverse ecosystems.”

Many bats are migratory animals, just like migratory birds, they can fly thousands of kilometers. Bats eat plant fruits and simultaneously spread seeds, ensuring the diversity of species in the region.

They spread more seeds than birds, and many bats spread seeds of pioneering plants, which are the earliest seeds to grow in harsh environments. Dragon fruit and starfruit also rely on bats to spread their seeds.

2. Misunderstanding of Bats by Humans

1. Are bats vampires?

Only 3 species of bats eat blood, and only one of them targets mammals.

All blood-feeding bats are limited to South America, and there are none elsewhere. Why isn't it called 'blood-sucking bats'? Because they don't suck blood, but lick blood. It has anticoagulant saliva, which prevents blood from clotting, so it can eat a full meal. This substance has now been developed into a drug to prevent stroke.

I love vegetarian food

2. The spread of rabiesBats carry rabies, but compared to other animals, it is much lower. The probability of being bitten by a bat is very small.

3. Bats are just like rats

They belong to the order of Chiroptera, not rodents. This is a long-term cognitive error because 'bat' is similar to 'mouse' in many languages, such as in German, 'Fledermaus' means 'tremble' and 'mouse'.

Bats and rodents have no close relationship in the molecular system tree of mammals. It is not a simple misunderstanding!

4. Bats are ugly but also have night vision

They are not cool, bats can be as cute as other mammals. They perceive everything except color through echolocation and can identify obstacles as fine as human hair. However, some bats do not use echolocation, some bats use vision, even without echolocation.

I'm not ugly

5. Bats are too numerous

Compared to other animals, the total mass of bats is not large. In terms of species, many of them are critically endangered, and it is rare to see large groups of bats. Most of them are solitary.

The smallest bat, the pig-nosed bat (also known as the snout-up bat), is one of the smallest mammals.

Bat lifespan can be as long as 40 years, and they have a wide distribution, but they are also easily extinct. With the interference of humans, the use of insecticides and pesticides has reduced the number of bats. Many bats are also the food of other animals. Bats are one of the slowest reproducing mammals on Earth.

3. The Relationship between Bats and Human Diseases

Currently, 75% of new human infectious diseases originate from animals, including bats.

As the human population continues to grow, the original species in natural areas begin to adapt to human life, and the contact with humans increases.

More than 60% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic diseases.Bats are also a potential source, including coronaviruses, influenza viruses, rabies viruses, Ebola viruses, etc.Like other wild animals, bats are also avoiding contact with humans. As long as they are left alone, they are harmless and beneficial.

In this situation, we can do is to respect each other and avoid disturbing each other, and promptly clean bat droppings and residues to reduce contact with bats and avoid eating bats.Bats are one of the most fascinating and misunderstood animals in the world, even if we know the role of bats in the food chain and their importance, we still know very little about them because they mostly live at night.

It is not a good idea to decide the fate of a species based on the thinking of decades ago. Hunting bats may increase the risk of disease transmission.

We should create a world where bats and humans coexist.