Critically endangered bat not seen in 40 years found in Rwanda
There has been a discovery of endangered bat species in Rwanda. There was no update on the species for 40 years. The news is thrilling for environmentalists who had assumed it was already extinct. According to the collaboration behind the finding, the Hill’s horseshoe bat is currently thriving in Rwanda’s Nyungwe forest. The International Union […]
There has been a discovery of endangered bat species in Rwanda. There was no update on the species for 40 years. The news is thrilling for environmentalists who had assumed it was already extinct. According to the collaboration behind the finding, the Hill’s horseshoe bat is currently thriving in Rwanda’s Nyungwe forest.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had designated these mammals as severely endangered in 2021 because there was no information on their population. Rediscovering the lost endangered bat species “was incredible”, Jon Flanders, director for Bat Conservation International (BCI), said in a statement late on Tuesday. “It’s astonishing to think that we’re the first people to see this bat in so long.”
The discovery of the bat was in 2019
Volume up to hear the first ever recording of the Hill's horseshoe bat (𝘙𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪) echolocation call. This recording was taken during our expedition to find the "lost" species which had only been seen twice, last in 1981.
Dr. Winifred Frick pic.twitter.com/dGgIlFNTpE
— Bat Conservation International (@BatConIntl) March 8, 2022
“We knew immediately that the bat we had captured was unusual and remarkable,” BCI’s chief scientist, Winifred Frick, said. “The facial features were exaggerated to the point of comical.”
However, the night creatures traditionally have an image of monsters or disease vectors. Also, the coronavirus pandemic did little to shift that perception after scientists concluded that Covid-19 likely originated in the animals. Bats make about a quarter of all terrestrial mammals, ranging in size from the minuscule two-gram “bumblebee bat” to the massive 1.5m (5ft) Philippine flying fox.
Moreover, approximately 40% of the 1,321 species on the IUCN’s red list are now in the endangered category. Human activities, such as deforestation and habitat destruction, are to blame. For Rwandan experts, the elusive discovery certainly means the start of a new race to save the once-extinct species from extinction.
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