Saturday, 17 April, is International Bat Appreciation Day, which is celebrated every year to remind us of the roles that bats play in our daily lives and in nature. This special day was started by Bat Conservation International (BCI) whose mission is to conserve the world’s bats and their ecosystems to ensure a healthy planet.
Many bats are ‘insectivores’ which eat annoying and harmful insects. Did you know that in a single hour, one bat can eat over 1,000 mosquitoes? Other species of bat are nectar eating, so serve as pollinators, whilst frugivores (fruit-eater bats) are essential for seed dispersal for many species of plants and so play a vital part in our bio-diversity.
Some fun bat facts
Globally there are over 1,420 known species of bats, which account for about 20% of the world’s mammals
Africa has an incredible bat diversity with over 300 species
Across southern Africa there are over 120 known species and Zambia has over 75 species
Nearly 70% of bats are insectivores
As pollinators, bats, along with bees and butterflies, provide a vital link to our food supply
Bats are very clean animals, grooming themselves almost constantly
Bats are the only mammals that are capable of true and sustained flight – making them unique
Zambia is home to the world’s largest bat migration, in October – December every year, when millions of straw-coloured fruit bats visit Kasanka National Park
Why not take some time today to find out more about bats?
You can also join in Bats Without Borders regular webinars, who hold regular talks from bat experts from around the world. Check out their #wingedwednesday YouTube videos to catch all of their webinars again.
Go to the BCI’s website and learn more about bats worldwide. You will also find research papers, bat profiles, games, activities, latest news on their blog and even a guide on what you should do if you find an injured bat.
Plan your visit to Kasanka National Park during Bat Season 2021 by visiting www.kasanka.com
Lastly, why not use #BatAppreciationDay to post your bat experiences on social media!
Last year, between September and November, WWF Zambia, in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and Panthera, collared six carnivores in the Sioma Ngwezi National Park. The park lies within the Silowana Complex, an area between the Zambezi River and the Angolan and Namibian borders.
The first of the six carnivores to be captured and collared were a female wild dog, a male lion and a lioness. A couple of months later two more lions and a further wild dog were also collared. It is useful for research to collar both sexes of each species, to monitor how they all utilise an area, gaining data on their social behaviour, how they interact with other species and to learn more about their home ranges. By monitoring and studying the data collected, they hope to also help reduce human/wildlife conflict in the area.
“Knowing when carnivores will be in proximity to their land can enable farmers to secure and protect their livestock and thus reduce potential conflict.“ WWF Zambia
In January the male lions moved along the Kwando River and were being closely monitored to see if they crossed into the Angolan side or move south into Namibia, as their movements could indicate an important wildlife corridor. Tracking them will also show how the carnivores negotiate passing through the human populations along the Zambian side of the river.
The collars will remain on the wild dogs for two years, and five years for the lions, as theirs are significantly larger, having larger battery packs. They will continue to track the collared animals, and will seek to get more funding, so that they can collar more animals in different packs or prides. It is hoped that this project will help guide future conservation efforts to both help protect the carnivores and to reduce human/wildlife conflict with people, and their livestock, in the region.
The Silowana Complex is growing in conservation significance, being adjacent to the large Angolan Luengue Luiana National Park. This region has seen a significant decrease in wildlife population over the years, so it is hoped that the pristine habitat in the national parks will attract migrating wildlife populations from neighbouring Namibia and Botswana.
This is the first time collaring and research has been undertaken in the Silowana Complex and it is hoped that the data collected will provide crucial information on how the carnivores respond to changing wildlife populations. Researchers consider large carnivores to be ‘umbrella species’ – the health of these species serves as an indicator as to the health of the overall biodiversity of all species in their region. This project will also help in the understanding of human activities on the surrounding ecosystem.
Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ) and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) joined forces in an operation to both collar, and re-collar, elephants during their first helicopter operation this year. CLZ is using the information from these collars to help monitor seasonal elephant movements in the region so that they can improve their wildlife protection and human/wildlife conflict strategies.
The helicopter operation also allowed them to access remote corners of Lower Zambezi National Park, so they could fulfil a secondary objective of targeting illegal activities in more sensitive areas. CLZ thanked FZS and INL for funding the helicopter operation, ECF for funding the collaring and also thanked vets, Dr Ian Parsons and Dr Jackson Katampi, who darted and fitted the elephant collars.
Re-launching EEP
In 2020, CLZ’s Environmental Education Programme had to be put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March they were was once again able to restart their outreach programmed for local communities in Luangwa, reaching 1,950 students from 16 schools whilst following the COVID-19 safety protocols.
K9 Unit refresher course
In March, CLZ’s K9 Unit went through a two-week refresher training with Invictus K9, building upon the team’s existing skills. The training also provided an opportunity to improve their operations and assess their progress.
The dogs and their handlers were put through various physical fitness and performance based tests, including realistic field scenarios. It is incredibly important that the dogs and handlers stay up to date and this training continues to develop the unit’s skills.
CLZ thanked USFWS for making this refresher course possible.
Find out more
You can find out more news from CLZ in their March Newsletter and also stay up to date with all their news on their Facebook Page
Conservation South Luangwa (CSL) shares their positive news that elephant poaching in South Luangwa has continued to reduce for a second consecutive year.
“After over 15 years of increasing elephant poaching, we are thrilled to let you know that from 2018 – 2020, elephant mortalities have reduced by 66%.”
From 116 mortalities in 2018, to 71 in 2019, they recorded just 41 in 2020. This is a major achievement brought about by their holistic approach which includes a combination of ground and aerial anti-poaching patrols, increased support to investigations by partners Wildlife Crime Prevention and their Human-Wildlife conflict programs.
“With the recent IUCN Red List reclassification of African savanna elephants from vulnerable to endangered, this success in Zambia proves that it is possible to put a stop to poaching and reverse elephant declines.“
CSL also reported more good news – for the first time in well over a decade no snared lions were reported. They believe this is due to extensive anti-snaring work and the community ‘clean sweeps’ who removed over 450 wire snares from the bush in 4 months.
Check out more news from CSL in their latest newsletter and read their 2020 Annual Report online. You can find out more about all their projects on their website at cslzambia.org and check out their Facebook Page for up to date news and information.
A rare scimitar-horned oryx, which are declared extinct in the wild, has been born at Marwell Zoo in Hampshire, England. The now one month old calf, called Freya, is thriving. She shares a paddock with her parents, Christina and Tenzi, along with other African species – white rhinos, Grevy’s zebra and ostrich.
The species is now reliant on captive breeding and reintroduction efforts for its continued survival back into the wild. Marwell Zoo manages the International Studbook for scimitar-horned oryx and is instrumental in creating conservation strategies.
“The scimitar-horned oryx was one of the first species we brought to Marwell Zoo in November 1971. Since, we’ve had 378 births here, making the species one of our biggest success stories in terms of breeding and conservation success. We have reintroduced groups of oryx into protected areas in Tunisia to re-establish them in their natural habitat and we continue to research the re-established populations and work to enhance the biodiversity of the protected areas where they live.” Said Conservation Biologist Dr Tania Gilbert.
Reintroductions in Tunisia started in 1985 with 10 scimitar-horned oryx from Marwell and Edinburgh Zoos, coordinated by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Today there are nearly 300 oryx living in five protected areas.
The scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah) were once abundant across North Africa. They were declared ‘extinct in the wild’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2000. Their decline began as a result of climate change during the Neolithic period and were later hunted extensively for their horns. They were domesticated in Ancient Egypt and are believed to have been used as food and sacrificed as offerings to gods. The use of their valuable hides began in the Middle Ages. It is thought that the unicorn myth may have originated from sightings of a scimitar oryx with a broken horn.
Find out more about Freya and how Marwell Zoo is working with The Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, and the Government of Chad in a ground breaking initiative to re-establish a free-ranging population of oryx within the species’ historical range at www.marwell.org.uk
