Watch 3 millions of bats going out for a night hunting in Mulu NP, Borneo

[Disir]

Every day at dusk, an estimated three million bats emerge from the mouth of one of the world’s largest caves to hunt. In order to make themselves a more elusive target for birds of prey, they gather in an eerie formation akin to a tornado, or a ribbon of campfire smoke. This video of the act, taken by François Chauvin, a visitor to Borneo’s Gunung Mulu National Park, is probably the most goth thing you’ll see today.
Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a stunning example of tropical karst topography. A karst landscape is formed when the bedrock is predominantly composed of something easily soluble, like limestone. Over time, water erodes the rock, forming sinkholes, cenotes, jagged limestone formations, and caves.
I Bet You’ve Never Seen This Many Goddamn Bats

They curl upwards like smoke.

 

[Missourian]

 

[waltky]

Save the bats!...

US Scientists Rush to Stop Devastating Bat Killer
April 13, 2016 — North America is home to 45 species of bats, and more than half of them have been devastated by White Nose Syndrome (WNS), an invasive fungus unintentionally brought in from Europe 10 years ago.

The highly contagious fungus has contaminated thousands of North American caves and mines, spreading from one county in New York state to 30 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces, killing 10 million bats in the process. If scientists cannot find a way to stop it, WNS could become one of the biggest wildlife catastrophes on the continent in the last century. And a catastrophe for humans, too. "[Bats] do a wide variety of economical and ecological benefits for humans,” said Rob Mies, founder of the Organization for Bat Conservation. “They eat tons of insects. They pollinate plants. They spread seeds."

An insidious invader

Mies says the fungus attacks bats while they hibernate. "When the bats go in [to hibernate], they hang on the cave wall and the fungus slowly grows on their skin. When it grows on their skin, it eats away at their skin and it dehydrates them," he said. That causes them to wake repeatedly from hibernation, burning up crucial fat reserves that they need to sustain them until spring, leading to starvation and death.

Dog-faced fruit bats are caught and sold in markets in Thailand for medicinal use.​

The fungus originated in Europe, but bats there have some natural immunity, unlike in the U.S., where its introduction has been devastating. WNS mainly attacks the smaller crevice-dwelling species. As the bats fly to new locations, they transfer the fungus to even more populations. Because bats are found on every continent except Antarctica, scientists warn that if it is not stopped soon, WNS could spread across the world. It can also be spread by people, carrying the fungus on their shoes and clothing as they explore caves.

Fighting back

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says Granny is bats...

Volunteers, Tequila Makers Lift Imperiled Bat Off the Mat, US says
January 06, 2017 - An unusual alliance of volunteer researchers and tequila makers have helped rescue a crucial American Southwest pollinator known as the lesser long-nosed bat from the brink of extinction, according to U.S. wildlife managers who want the bat removed from the endangered and threatened species list.

The bat, known for feeding on nectar and playing a key role in the pollination of such plants as agaves in Mexico, was protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1988, when its population had dwindled to just 1,000 at 14 known roosts, government biologists said. Habitat destruction threatened the bat with extinction, U.S. wildlife managers said. For instance, its roosting areas in Mexico were destroyed as part of an eradication effort aimed at rabies-infected vampire bats, while development affected other roosting and feeding areas. Today, the lesser long-nosed bat is estimated to number 200,000 at 75 roosts across a range stretching from southern Mexico to southern Arizona and New Mexico.

Citizen scientists in Arizona monitored the bat's night-time use of hummingbird feeders, providing biologists with a better understanding of the elusive creature's migratory and other habits, U.S. wildlife managers said. Tequila makers in Mexico provided a valuable assist by making bat-friendly varieties of the liquor, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. This raised the profile of the once-struggling bat and popularized the campaign to protect it and its habitat. The tequilas are marketed in Mexico by producers who rely on agaves pollinated by lesser long-nosed bats.

Lesser long-nosed bat captured during a citizen science research project is pictured in southern Arizona​

In the United States, lesser long-nosed bats mostly roost and forage on agaves and cacti like saguaro and organ pipe on public lands where measures have been adopted to limit human interference with roost sites like caves and abandoned mines, according to the wildlife agency. Several of the bat populations reside year-round in southern Mexico but others migrate to that country's northern tier and across the U.S. border to southern Arizona and New Mexico in search of maternity roosting sites.

The nocturnal creature's foraging is driven by a so-called nectar trail made up of flowering agaves, cacti and other blooming plants that form the bat's diet. The Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comment through March 7 on its proposal to delist the lesser long-nosed bat. It was declared recovered by Mexico in 2015 and removed from that country's endangered species list.

Volunteers, Tequila Makers Lift Imperiled Bat Off the Mat, US says

 

[Unkotare]

Now we know where guno lives.

 

[waltky]

Bats dying from Australian heat wave...

Hundreds of ‘boiled’ bats fall from sky in Australian heat wave
Jan 09, 2018 - Hundreds of bats have died in sweltering conditions in Australia, with many dropping from their perches as the scorching temperatures “fried their brains”

Hundreds of bats have died in sweltering conditions in Australia, with many dropping from their perches as the scorching temperatures “fried their brains”, wildlife officials said Tuesday. A record-breaking heatwave saw the mercury rise to 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in Sydney’s western suburb of Campbelltown on Sunday where hundreds, if not thousands, of the animals fell from trees after succumbing to the heat. “They basically boil,” Campbelltown flying fox colony manager Kate Ryan told the local Camden Advertiser. “It affects their brain -- their brain just fries and they become incoherent. It would be like standing in the middle of a sandpit with no shade.”

This handout picture taken on January 8, 2018 and released by Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown shows dead bats on the ground in Sydney.​

The flying fox, Australia’s largest bat, is listed as a “vulnerable” species nationally with its survival ranked as a “critical priority” under local laws. Sydney recorded its hottest day since 1939 on Sunday when the suburb of Penrith reached 47.3 Celsius. New South Wales Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) said the loss of bats to the brutal conditions could run into the thousands.

This handout picture taken on January 7, 2018 and released by Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown shows the rescue of a heat stricken bat in Sydney.​

Rescuers were able to save the lives of more than a hundred of the animals, but many scattered across the ground perished and others died still clinging to trees. “In extremely trying conditions volunteers worked tirelessly to provide subcutaneous fluids to the pups that could be reached and many lives were saved but sadly many were lost too,” WIRES said on Facebook.

Hundreds of ‘boiled’ bats fall from sky in Australian heat wave