Bats News

On this episode, we look at research into an African bat that might be the key to controlling future Ebola outbreaks. Listen here:   Our guest is Sarah Olson, an…

Imagine you are the head of a small NGO trying to conserve vultures. You have limited funds, and have to choose your actions carefully. Would supplementary feeding increase the population?…

Scientists know that bats boost the profits of farmers by fertilizing crops and keeping hungry insects in check. According to recent research, they also could clue farmers in to shifting…

For the past few decades, scientists have known of six species of fast-flying, insect-eating bats with dog-like faces — collectively called the dog-faced bats. Now, a group of researchers has described…

Predators help humans far more than they’re given credit for, despite the antagonistic nature of the relationship, according to a review of studies. “While predators and scavengers are a large…

On the island of Makira, in the eastern Solomon Islands, bat teeth are more valuable than paper money. But their use as a currency has contributed to widespread hunting of…

This episode of the Mongabay Newscast takes a look at our new investigative series, “Indonesia for Sale,” and also features a new acoustic study of Amazonian bats. We recently published…

Camera trap footage has shown, for the first time, that a threatened bat species in Malaysia is an important pollinator of durian trees (Durio zibethinus). Past research in other parts…

Music has a unique ability to inspire awareness and action about important issues — and we’re excited to welcome a living legend onto the program to discuss that very topic.…

A burned-out stump was all that remained by the time a team of virologists arrived in Méliandou in 2014. They had been hunting for the source of the deadly outbreak…

The character Yoda, the venerable Jedi Master from the Star Wars franchise, may have come from a galaxy far, far away, but his face seems to pop up a lot…

Bats have not historically been a focus of much conservation effort, but starting around 1985, conservationists in Canada and the United States began working to limit human access to bat…

In order to preserve a species from the impacts of human activities that degrade or fragment its habitat, it’s necessary to understand how the species responds to changes to the…

How do you save a species or protect a habitat? For the past few decades, scientists have been calling for an increased use of scientific evidence -- carefully controlled, peer-reviewed…

Scientists have uncovered a new species of bat in the mountains of Venezuela and Colombia. But its forest habitat is under big threat from slash-and-burn agriculture, and its discoverers are…

The saki, or "flying monkey," a mid-sized South American primate, gets its nickname from its ability to quietly skim through the tops of trees. These rainforest inhabitants use their sharp…

Gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans -- our great ape cousins teeter on the precipice of extinction. And it’s not much of a secret that we humans have had a lot to do…

Widespread deforestation is causing severe population decline in the little-known Livingstone’s fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii), a new study has found. The rare bat is found only on two small islands…

Tun Lin has a unique occupation: he is the security guard at Linno limestone karst cave on the bank of the Salween River in Myanmar’s southeast Karen (Kayin) State. He…

It’s a hummingbird… it’s a bumblebee… it’s Kitti’s hog-nosed bat. Yes, seriously, look at it: it’s a bat. A teensy, tiny, teeny, weeny bat. Kitti’s hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is…

Bats have seemingly always had a troubled relationship with wind farms. Giant whirling turbines scuttle their sensitive hearing and sonar, bringing down huge numbers in a way that only a…

ore than 160 bat species can be found flying through the Amazonian night — and their variety is astonishing. From the largest (the carnivorous Spectral, or False Vampire bat; Vampyrum…

A team of researchers has concluded that, in addition to being the Philippines’ largest and most populous island, Luzon Island is also home to the greatest concentration of unique species…

For the first time since 1970, a team of scientists has reviewed global trends in bat mortality. Unprecedented in scope, the review, published in Mammal Review, reveals that over half…

The fatal white-nose syndrome (WNS) that has decimated bat populations across North America has now made its way to western United States. On March 11, a group of hikers discovered a…

An app and portal aimed at improving bat surveys and broadening participation in bat population monitoring

Despite widespread protests by conservation groups and citizens, Mauritius will start culling its native Mauritius fruit bats (Pteropus niger) tomorrow. These bats are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red…

Rainforests are full of bats, and with over 1,300 known species around the world bats really do come in all shapes and sizes. Each species has its own range of…

The government of Mauritius has announced its plans of culling 20 percent of the endemic and vulnerable Mauritius fruit bat (Pteropus niger) population on the island. The government hopes that…

Identidad Madidi is bringing biologists to little-known parts of Madidi National Park, where they are finding some surprising things.