Where do the bats go?

BCI is working with Norma Monfort, a tireless conservationist, to protect the world’s largest colony of Geoffroy’s rousette fruit bats and, at the same time, nourish a young bat-conservation movement in the Philippines. About 1.8 million fruit bats live in a cave owned by Norma’s family on the small island of Samal. A growing network of partners, including Philippine Bat Conservation, several universities and a federal agency, is launching research projects to better understand these bats and their significance. An immediate goal is to determine where the bats go to forage each night and where better protection is most needed. Radio-tracking equipment is required. Receivers cost $1,360 each, while antennas are $150 each and radio transmitters are $190 apiece.

Building a ‘Kit Bag’

A new, dual-purpose “kit bag” is needed for training at BCI field workshops. These field-research kits will not only be used to train professionals in bat conservation, but will also be shared for direct conservation work by our two Arizona-based conservation programs – Borderlands and Southwest Subterranean. The gear is used to safely capture, identify and examine bats of various species, an indispensable aspect in developing many bat-conservation efforts. Among the most critical components of this field resource are sixteen 18-foot mist nets ($73.75 each), eight 30-foot nets ($92 each) and four 60-foot nets ($139 each). We also need four digital thermometers ($20 each) and four 50g scales ($44.50).

A Latin American Workshop

BCI is taking its popular Bat Conservation and Management Workshops to Central America. Our first Spanish-language workshop, in Nicaragua this January, promises far-reaching benefits for diverse bat populations that face a host of threats. The session focuses on conservation and management concerns for neo-tropical bats, with hands-on training for land managers and biologists from throughout the region. BCI’s partners include the U.S. Forest Service’s International Programs, the U.S. Agency for International Development and Paso Pacífico. Among expenses for this important project are transportation costs for four instructors. Round-trip airfares for two instructors from the United States are approximately $1,200 each, while tickets will be about $550 each for two Latin American instructors.