CH U R N I N G GI A N T BATS CO N S E R VAT I O N I S TS the Food Chain in a Shrinking Forest of th e Year - 2003

W W W . B A T C O N . O R G W I N T E R 2 0 0 3

BAB A T C O N S E R VAT I O NT I N T E R N AST I O N A L

Counting Bats the Hard Way P.O. Box 162603, Austin, Texas 78716 Volume 21 , No. 4 , Wint er 2003 BATS (512) 327-9721 • Fax (512) 327-9724 Publications Staff D i rector of Publications: Robert Locke Photo Editor: Kristin Hay Copyeditors: Angela England, Valerie Locke FEATURES B AT S welcomes queries from writers. Send your article proposal with a brief outline and a description of any photos to the address 1 Counting Bats the Hard Way above or via e-mail to: [email protected]. M e m b e r s : Please send changes of address and all correspondence A vital hibernation cave presents perilous challenges to the address above or via e-mail to [email protected]. Please by Jennifer Pinkley include your label, if possible, and allow six weeks for the change of address. 5 Churning the Food Chain Founder & Pre s i d e n t : Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle Associate Executive Director: Elaine Acker Frogs, bat food in Central America, turn predator in B o a rd of Tru s t e e s : Australia Andrew Sansom, Chair John D. Mitchell, Vice Chair by D. Bruce Means Verne R. Read, Chairman Emeritus 8 Peggy Phillips, Secretary Giant Bats Face a Shrinking Forest Jeff Acopian; Mark A. Adkins; Eugene L. Ames, Jr.; Charles C o n s e r ving Livingstone’s flying foxes on the Comoro s Chester; Robert E. Gerrie; Nancy Harte; Elizabeth Ames Jones; Joan Kelleher; Travis Mathis; Scott McVay; Thomas Is l a n d s Read; Eugenio Clariond Reyes; Wilhelmina E. Robertson; by Brent J. Sewall William Scanlan; Lee Schmitt; Patsy Steves; Dr. Merlin D. 12 Tuttle; Roy Vaughan; Marc Weinberger. Advisory Trustees: Sharon R. Forsyth; Dr. D.J. Sibley, Jr. BCI’s Distinguished Service Awards Scientific Advisory Board : An individual and a mining company earn 2003 D r. Eduard Yavrouian, A r m e n i a ; D r. Leslie S. Hall, h o n o r s Dr. Greg Richards, Bruce Thomson, Australia; Dr. Irina K. Rakhmatulina, Azerbaijan; Dr. Luis F. Aguirre, Bolivia; Dr. DEPARTMENTS Wilson Uieda, Brazil; Dr. M. Brock Fenton, Canada; Dr. Jiri Gaisler, Czech Republic; Dr. Uwe Schmidt, Germany; Dr. 14 News and Notes Ganapathy Marimuthu, Dr. Shahroukh Mistry, India; Dr. Rodrigo A. Medellín, Dr. Arnulfo Moreno, Mexico; I r. A new kind of bat house Herman Limpens, Netherlands; Dr. Armando Rodriguez- Amazon eco-adventure Duran, Puerto Rico; Dr. Ya-Fu Lee, Taiwan; Dr. Paul A. The call of the wild Racey, United Kingdom; Dr. Denny G. Constantine, Robert Currie, Dr. Theodore H. Fleming, Dr. Thomas H. K u n z, Dr. A welcoming gate Gary F. McCracken, Dr. Don E. Wilson, United States; Dr. Winning pollinators José R. Ochoa G., Venezuela. The wish list Membership Manager: Amy McCartney B AT S (ISSN 1049-0043) is published quarterly by Bat 17 In Memoriam Conservation International, Inc., a nonprofit corporation Donald R. Griffin (1915-2003) supported by tax-deductible contributions used for public education, research, and conservation of threatened and endangered bats. ©Bat Conservation International, 2003. All rights reserved. Bat Conservation International is dedicated to conserving and restoring bat populations and habitats around the world. Using non-confrontational approaches, we educate people about the ecological and economic values of bats, advance scientific knowledge about bats and the ecosystems that rely on them, and COVER PHOTO: BCI Founder Merlin Tuttle, with thousands of bats overhead, uses a rope for support as preserve critical bat habitats through win-win solutions that benefit both humans and bats. he surveys the most important hibernation cave for endangered gray myotis (see Page 1). A subscription to BATS is included with BCI membership: Photo © Chris Anderson, BCI / 0010106 Senior, Student or Educator $30; Basic $35; Friends of BCI $45; Supporting $60; Contributing $100; Patron $250; Sustaining $500; Founder’s Circle $1,000. Third-class postage paid at Austin, Texas. Send address changes to Bat Conservation International, P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716. BATS is printed on a 50/20 chlorine-free recycled paper with a © ANNABELLE LEA, DURRELL WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST water-based coating on the cover. CO U N T I N G BA T S by Jennifer Pinkley the Hard Way

e peered down into the gigantic sinkhole, tied our rope to a tree, and rappelled W25 feet (7.6 meters) to a rocky landing. Then we secured another rope to two metal bolts at the edge of a 97-foot (29.5-meter) pit, crept over the ledge, and descended into the cold darkness. At least 1.5 million bats hibernate in Alabama’s Fern Cave (top), but getting inside the cave to count them is a daunting Then the going got tough. challenge (above).

Volume 21, No. 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 1 B A T S S u rveying the bats of Fern Cave, by far the most important remaining hibern a- tion site for the endangered gray myotis (Myotis grisescens), is not for the faint of h e a rt or for inexperienced cavers. That’s w h y, despite its importance, this Alabama cave – a huge complex of exceedingly rugged passages – hadn’t been visited by a bat biologist since Bat C o n s e rvation International Founder Mer- lin Tuttle last conducted re s e a rch there m o re than 25 years ago. During his initial re s e a r ch in the 1970s, Tuttle estimated that more than half of the remaining population of gray myotis relied on Fern Cave for hibern a- tion. As a result of his findings, he con- vinced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv i c e to acquire and protect the cave as a national wildlife refuge in 1981. Counting the bats currently hibern a t- ing in the cave would be critical in c o n f i rming what appears to be one of the most important bat-conservation achieve- ments ever – restoring a species that e x p e rts had once predicted was doomed to extinction [B AT S, Summer/Fall 2002]. To determine the number of bats curre n t- ly hibernating in Fern Cave and the health of the species in general, Tu t t l e planned the grueling but necessary task of conducting an inventory. On January 20, 2003, Tuttle, along with BCI cave specialist Jim Kennedy, began the rough drive down a long, winding road to the cave. Accompanying the BCI crew were me and my husband, Steve Pitts, photographer Chris An- derson, and biologist Bob Madej. Pitts, a member of the National Speleological Society and volunteer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is access coordinator for the cave and knows it better than almost anyone. He serv e d as the guide through the maze of pas- sages. I helped guide the group and car- ried critical equipment. Anderson would photographically document the cave’s i m p o rta nce for bats. Madej would gain experience needed for future monitoring.

B C I Founder Merlin Tuttle surveys seemingl y endless gray myotis roosts in Fe rn Cave. The e n d a n ge red bats hibern a te th roughout much of the comp l ex cave, but counting them is a per- ilous task for biologists.

B A T S 2 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 Volume 21, No. 4 A group approach was re q u i red , given the weight of hundreds of feet of rope and other equipment that had to be carried a mile and a half (2.5 kilometers) up a rugged mountain before we even began the main challenge: Fern Cave’s deep pits and intricate passages. F e rn Cave is vast beyond description. Over 16 miles (25 kilometers) of inter- locking canyons, sprawling rooms, and deep, vertical pits run as much as 541 feet (165 meters) below the surf a c e . Visiting this cave re q u i res specialized skills in rappelling and rope climbing – not to mention expertise in negotiating tight crawls, ledges over 100 feet (30 walls for as far as we could see. I re a l l y Bat experts predicted in 1969 that the gray meters) above the floor, and many other d i d n ’t expect to see bats this close to the myotis would probably become extinct. But decades of conservation work led by BCI have obstacles. Although parts of the cave are entrance, since I assumed it would be too reversed the species’ once-precipitous decline popular destinations for cavers, the hiber- cold for them. Tu rns out the gray myotis and many populations are now recovering nation areas are strictly protected fro m really like temperatures in the low 40s throughout its range. August 15 to April 15. (F), which makes Fern Cave an ideal After rappelling to the bottom of the h i b e rnation ro o s t . sands of bats began waking up, a typical pit, we moved as quickly and cautiously T h e r e are around 4,000 caves in reaction for this species. Soon we were as possible down a narrow canyon appro- Alabama, but this is the only one that engulfed in a massive bat flight. priately called the Refrigerator Passage. combines the multilevel entrances and The sound of thousands of bat wings C h i m n e y - e f fect winds of 41 to 45 huge volume re q u i red to trap enough created a dull roar like a distant water- d e g ree s F (5 to 7.2 degrees C) made us cold air for gray myotis hibernation. The fall. In fact, there were times when we wish we could move faster. bats come here from hundreds of miles simply couldn’t move for fear of hurting S u d d e n l y, we rounded a corner and a ro u n d . them. We crouched low while literally w e re greeted by huge clusters of gray As soon as we passed through the tens of thousands of bats passed within myotis. They blanketed the limestone Refrigerator Passage, hundreds of thou- inches of us, often using a shoulder as a temporary landing site. Such a close A young Merlin Tuttle visited Fe rn Cave in 1971 with vo l u n teer Dave We aver to study the migra to r y encounter with so many bats was an awe- habits and health of gray myotis. His re s e a rch led to protection for the species, but working in th e inspiring experience! c ave is so difficult that, until 2003, no bat biologist had visited it since Tu t t l e’s work in the 1970s. Tuttle and Kennedy estimated that just the first small section of cave, about 100 feet (30 meters) stretching from the entrance to the next large room, held some 200,000 bats. Counting that many small animals seems almost as much art as science. Yo u just can’t count that many individuals. So they first estimate the number of bats in a manageable area – one square foot (929 s q u a re centimeters), for instance. A n y w h e re from 50 to 275 gray myotis can be packed into a square foot of ro o s t- ing space. Then they estimate the total a rea where bats are roosting. You get a total by multiplying the number of s q u a re feet by the estimated number of bats per square foot. To better understand e rror rates, Tuttle and Kennedy didn’t c o m p a re their counts until several days l a t e r. Then they averaged their numbers

Volume 21, No. 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 3 B A T S to reach final conclusions. I was concerned that we were disturb- ing too many bats, and Tuttle explained that this is exactly why gray myotis can- not survive in caves where human distur- bance is more than a rare event. Kennedy said hibernating bats normally have spare fat supplies, but these can be quickly exhausted if the bats are repeatedly dis- turbed. On average, bats lose appro x i- mately 30 to 60 days of stored fat re s e rv e per arousal from hibern a t i o n . It is normal to wake up and sometimes change roosting locations within a cave several times in the winter; but each time a bat arouses, it runs an increased risk of s t a rvi ng before spring. We did our best to minimize the disturbance, but it quickly became obvious why such sites must be pro t e c t e d . After the first count was completed, we rappelled down one more pit, then pro- ceeded to navigate a series of tight crawls and narrow canyon passages, interspersed by large rooms. This area features mazes of interlocking canyons, and peering into any of them usually revealed bats hang- ing in dense clusters. The large ro o m s also contained many gray myotis. Bats hibernate throughout an area that extends for miles, far more than we could check in a single day. In fact, the diff i c u l- ty of our task was well illustrated when Tuttle, relying on his sketches and descriptions from the past, failed (even with the help of our entire team) to find one roost that he insisted was pro b a b l y within 50 feet (15 meters) of us. After visiting several rooms in this sec- tion, we headed back to the entrance and began climbing the rope back up to the s u rface. Although we spent 11 hours inside the cave, Tuttle doubts we encoun- t e red more than a small pro p o rtion of the BCI Cave Resources Specialist Jim Kennedy measures the temperature of hibernating gray myotis in c a v e ’s bats, which partly explains why Alabama’s Fern Cave. this is such a bastion of survival for them. You may wonder how these counts priate temperatures have sharply in- and perhaps far more. That’s great news could make much diff e rence in conserv a- c reased since the caves gained pro t e c t i o n . for a species that, in 1969, was not tion planning, given the number of bats That appears to be the case at Fern Cave. expected to survive. we certainly missed. But Tuttle was Tuttle and Kennedy counted only delighted. Finding so many bats occupy- about 840,000 gray myotis. But based JENNIFER PINKLEY is a caver fro m ing ideal temperature zones near the main on the size of the sections we examined Tennessee. She is a member of the National entrance indicated humans had not been and the many promising passages we Speleological Society and BCI and has long disturbing them. Tu t t l e ’s counts at other weren’t able to visit, Tuttle estimates the been interested in bats and their long-term significant gray myotis caves with appro- total population is at least 1.5 million – c o n s e rv a t i o n .

B A T S 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 Volume 21, No. 4 Churning the Food Chain Frogs are food for bats in Central America, but they turn predator in Australia

by D. Bruce Means

OMETIMES YOU EAT THE BEAR, AND SOMETIMES “STHE BEAR EATS YOU.” That old cowboy adage acknowledges that nature can get a bit topsy-turvy: The diner and the main course occasionally switch places at the table. Such is the strange case of the predator-prey relationship between bats and tree frogs.

Volume 21, No. 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 5 B A T S © D . BR U C E M EA N S

As a herpetologist, I was fascinated in A flight of little bent-wing bats, after running a deadly gauntlet of snakes and frogs, flutters past the early 1980s by the discovery that a Mount Etna National Park Guide Noel Sands at Australia’s Bat Cleft. Central American bat (Trachops cirrhosus) touching my face and arms. Bat Cleft is c reate a low-pitched ro a r, like the “sound feeds on tree frogs, and BCI Founder so narrow that the bats must fly zigzag of the ocean” you hear in a conch shell. Merlin Tu t t l e ’s superb action pho- paths from one end of the cleft to the Now come the predators. I slowly turn tographs of this behavior became etched other to gain altitude before reaching the my head and see a small, dark-spotted in my mind. open sky. So many bats are trying to leave python (Liasis maculosus), about 30 inches But an ocean away, I found that pre y the maternity chambers 70 feet (21.3 (76 centimeters) long, moving over the can turn predator as I watched Australian meters) below that they interf e re with limestone boulders of the cramped side t ree frogs literally gulp down bats. each other’s flight. I hear the tiny, flick- chamber where I wait. Sitting on one of Two years ago, I contracted to make a ing sounds of hundreds of bat wings the boulders that the snake passes is a big d o c u m e n t a r y film about Australian b rushing against other bats and against g reen tree frog (Litoria ceru l e a). The snake snakes. I was especially excited at the the rough limestone walls. Countless bats crawls in a straight line, reaches my boot, p rospect of filming pythons nabbing stir a continuous wind in my face and crawls right over it without hesitation, bats at the mouth of Bat Cleft, a mater- nity cave for the little bent-wing bat (M i n i o p t e rus australis) in Mount Etna Caves National Park in southern Queensland. I took my camera along in hopes of getting a few images to use in my lectures. At the cave, at 7 p.m. sharp, the first bats begin spiraling upward, shooting out of the maw of the cleft and disap- pearing into the waning twilight. Te n bats shoot out. Tw e n t y, fifty, then hun- d reds flutter around me, their wings

A spotted python hangs off a rock wall at Bat Cleft, hoping to nab an unwary bat that drifts into range. Pythons and brown tree snakes are major predators of little bent-wing bats in Queensland, Australia, but green tree frogs also take their toll.

B A T S 6 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 Volume 21, No. 4 and comes to a stop on a jagged piece of one. It seems less efficient than the little bats. The frog makes three gulping limestone that’s jutting out into the cleft. python because it tries to swallow the movements and the bat disappears. It anchors itself on the rough rock, then bat alive without constricting it. I return to the cleft two nights later. I s t retches its head and half of its body out While watching this lethal little hunker down in my cramped chamber into the air of the abyss. Bats are making drama unfold, I glance down to see the and watch another green tree frog wait- a sharp turn at this point, ing patiently at the edge and some of them bru s h of the abyss. Spotted the limestone – and the pythons and brown tree snake. Soon the little snakes come and go. Then, python nabs one in the air during the heaviest out- by biting sideways when it pouring of bats, some of feels a bat’s touch. It be- them drop onto the rock gins constricting the bat. where the tree frog sits. I feel a thud on my boot. One fallen bat struggles The tree frog is moving f o rw a r d, directly toward f o rw a rd, too. I look back the frog. A gaping mouth and see another tree fro g quickly opens and snaps entering my small cham- shut, leaving the posterior ber from a crack in the of the bat protruding. The limestone that leads to the frog makes a swallowing outside world. Eventually, movement and more of both frogs pass me and the bat disappears. Then take up positions at the the frog uses one hand to edge of the abyss. The first A fringe-lipped bat snags a frog (above), a featured item on the bat’s menu in push the bat’s wing for- f rog sits on a flat part of Central America. But the tables turn in Australia, where this green tree frog (below) ward. Two more gulps and the spotted python’s ro c k , literally gulps down a little bent-wing bat at Mount Etna National Park. the bat is gone. just inches from the snake. On three nights, I wit- In the frenzy of the nessed frogs eating bats a e m e rgen ce, many bats total of four times; snakes alight briefly on the lime- consumed at least 30 bats. stone walls before re n e w- Exactly what led this ing their upward pro g re s s . population of tree frogs to Some land on me and add bats to its menu is crawl across my chest. I u n c e rtain. However, the remain frozen, trying not destruction of alternative to interf e re with their roosts worldwide is forc- a c t i v i t y. There are so many ing more and more bats to bats that they can’t all fly congregate in fewer loca- t h rou gh the cleft at once. tions, making them A few land on the flat ro c k increasingly vulnerable to near the tree frog, which p r edators. Several of s t a res at them glumly as Mount Etna’s bat caves each bat flies off . have been perm a n e n t l y A diff e rent kind of destroyed. Thanks to the snake appears on the left wall of the back end of a little bent-wing bat hang- diligent efforts of local colleagues and abyss, a skinnier snake, orange-brown, ing out of the mouth of a frog. I am letters from BCI and its members, sever- and longer than the spotted python. This astounded as I contemplate this preda- al, including Bat Cleft, eventually won is a brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis), a tor-prey turnabout. protection. native of Australia that has wrought With some diff i c u l t y, I bend to photo- havoc on fauna of the mid-Pacific island graph the frog, which sits facing me with D. BRUCE MEANS is President and of Guam. It has a bulbous head and red, the bat sticking out of its big mouth. The Executive Director of the Coastal Plains reflective eyes. It takes up a stance simi- f rog is not much bigger than the bat. Institute and Land Conservancy in lar to that of the second python: hanging About this time, one of the pythons has Tallahassee, Florida, and an Adjunct from the sloping wall and dangling out caught and constricted a second bat. Fro g Professor of Biological Science at Florida into the air to intercept a bat. Soon it has and python sit there, inches apart, eating State University in Tallahassee.

Volume 21, No. 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 7 B A T S Giant Bats Face a Shrinking Forest by Brent J. Sewa l l

Conserving Livingstone’s flying foxes on the Comoros Islands A Livingstone’s flying fox cradles her pup at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Jersey Zoo in the United Kingdom. here’s one!” Daoud and distinctive black-and- cried, shielding his rust fur, Daoud’s find was eyes from the sun. I unmistakable. We had just Tjerked my binoculars up caught sight of a soaring and followed the dark Livingstone’s flying fox shape as it circled and rose (Pteropus livingstonii) – one from the valley below. of the largest, rarest, and With jet-black wings larg- most unusual bats in the er than any hawk I’d seen world.

B A T S 8 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 Volume 21, No. 4 We were on an arc h i p e l a g o lage of Sangani. “When I between nort h e rn Madagascar BCI’s Student Scholarship program supported Brent moved to Sangani 12 years and mainland Africa in the Sewall in this important research. To find out more ago, I wanted to plant cassava w e s t e r n Indian Ocean. and Angola peas, but all the E l e v e n t h - c e n t u ry Arabic ex- about the scholarships and how you can help prepare land close to town was taken. p l o rers called these islands the new generations of bat conservationists, please turn to So I cleared land up here,” he C o m o ros Islands – Islands of the back of this issue of BATS. said. “Then more people came the Moon – because of their to Sangani. They put in their b a rren rock fields, cooled lava fields above mine.” f rom a still-active volcano. The moun- species should we protect first? Until The bat we were watching soared high tains of these islands are covered with lush n o w, little has been known of the bats’ above the valley, slipped out of its col- rain forests, where Livingstone’s flying foraging ecology – how the bats search for umn of warm rising air, and began glid- foxes fly among the treetops in search of food, where they go to feed, and what ing toward the far hillside. As it flew just their favorite foods: nectar and fruit. they eat. This critical problem has vexed above the forest canopy, its wings beating But that search is becoming more diff i- the Comorian government and conserv a- s l o w l y, Daoud and I watched carefully for cult. The bats’ rain-forest habitat is tion groups. And it was the motivation the bat to reveal its destination. shrinking at an alarming pace. Fewer than for my visit to the Comoros Islands. Wi t h S u d d e n l y, the bat banked to the right, 1,500 of these great bats exist, all of s u p p o rt from a Bat Conserv a t i o n c i rcl ed twice about a treetop, and just them on two small Comoros islands: I n t e rnational scholarship and help fro m after skimming over a branch, grabbed Anjouan and Mohéli. The defore s t a t i o n my Comorian field assistant, Daoud on tightly with its feet. It swung in a rate here is one of the world’s highest – Attoumane, I investigated the bats’ forag- h a l f - c i rcle around the branch to a hang- nearly half the forest vanished in the last ing ecology on the island of Anjouan. ing position as the branch sagged fro m decade. The World Conservation Union Daoud understands why the forest is its weight. The bat had just completed lists these bats as critically endangere d . re t reating up the mountainsides. He lives its first flight of the day, unaware that it With the forests disappearing, the sur- with his wife and two children on An- had given us a valuable clue to under- vival of Livingstone’s flying fox depends jouan, farming small fields near the vil- standing its foraging ecology. on the rapid conservation of its most crit- The auth o r’s field assistants, Daoud Attoumane (l e f t) and Ishaka Said, measure the girth of a giant- ical habitat. But which habitat is most l e a fed fig tree on the Comoros Islands. The fruit of this tree is favo red by Livingsto n e’s flying foxe s , critical? What forest areas and which tre e w h i ch are th re a tened by the rapid disappearance of the islands’ rain fo re s t s .

© BRENT SEWALL

Volume 21, No. 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 9 B A T S The next morning, we hiked across the planted coconut and mango trees, but I A common agricultural practice on the valley floor and up the opposite hillside, never knew who planted forest trees until islands is to retain some trees as forage for s e a rching for the tree where the bat land- I started watching the bats.” cattle, erosion control, and shade. So, at ed. Daoud and I climbed side by side to T h rou gh investigations like this, we least for the short term, farmers can avoid the rocks that loosened under our identified several tree species that appar- reduce the impact of deforestation on steps and tumbled downhill. The tree we ently are most important for Livingstone’s bats by simply retaining the “bat tre e s ” sought was an enormous giant-leafed fig flying foxes, as well as the islands’ two that we’ve identified. For the long haul, (Ficus lutea) rooted in another steep slope. other fruit-eating bats: the Seychelles yel- our findings should help identify for con- The fig’s waxy green leaves, each the low-headed flying fox (P t e ropus seychellensis s e rvation those areas of remaining fore s t s shape and size of a flattened football, c o m o r e n s i s) and the Comoros ro u s e t t e that provide the most critical habitat for filled the canopy nearly 50 feet (15 (Rousettus obliviosus). While these last two L i v i n g s t o n e ’s flying fox. meters) overhead and spread more than bats sometimes eat fruit from trees plant- These and other ideas from my re s e a rc h 30 feet (9 meters) from the trunk in all ed by people, Livingstone’s flying fox a re being directly applied to conserv a- d i rec tions. Its branches were festooned relies almost completely on a few native tion. The Comorian government, local with bunches of marble-sized, purple- f o rest trees. That means its fate will and international conservation gro u p s , speckled yellow figs. remain tightly linked to that of the rapid- and rural Comorians are united by a com- Did the bat land here to eat these figs? ly disappearing forest. But it also suggests mon interest in Livingstone’s flying fox, Do Livingstone’s flying foxes prefer figs ways to help this bat surv i v e . and together we are developing a plan to to other kinds of fruit? To find out, we hung tarps of porous cloth to capture Brent Sewall and his field assistants placed f ruit and any other items dropped by fly- tarps like this one (below) around the rain for- ing foxes. We repeated the process at est to collect fruit and anything else dropped by other sites, until dozens of white tarps Livingstone’s flying foxes. Among the collec- tions were these “ejecta pellets” (right), which dotted the landscape. We left the tarps are what’s left of the fruit after the big bats open through the next foraging bout, chew it and squeeze out the juice. The flying which for Livingstone’s flying fox – one foxes spit out the dry, pulpy remains. These often-found pellets originally were fruit of giant- of the few partially diurnal bats in the leafed fig trees, confirming that the fig is an world – begins in late afternoon and con- important part of the bats’ diet – a finding that tinues for half the night. could help conservationists identify the most When we inspected the tarps the next critical habitats for protection. d a y, Daoud plucked a fruit from the first tarp. “Teeth marks,” he said, pointing at a hole in one side. In another tarp, we found a diff e rent clue: a walnut-sized object we call an ejecta pellet. When a bat eats fru i t , it chews and then presses the fruit against its palate with its tongue, squeezing out the juices. Eventually, it spits out as much of the dry, fibrous pulp as possible. This pellet, yellow-brown with a grainy texture, was formed of the fruit of a giant-leafed fig tree. Daoud measure d teeth imprints in the pellets and found them so large that only a Livingstone’s flying fox could have made them. One m y s t e ry was solved: Livingstone’s flying foxes do eat giant-leafed figs. Because pellets of this type were com- monly found, despite the relative rarity of giant-leafed figs in the habitat, it became clear that these are a pre f e rre d food. The small, black seeds embedded in the pellets showed that bats re t u rn the favor by carrying seeds away from the t ree. As Daoud put it, “I knew people

B A T S 10 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 Volume 21, No. 4 p rotect the species. This conserv a t i o n In addition to seeking information that could help protect the critically endangered Livingstone’s plan emphasizes habitat protection, envi- flying fox, Brent Sewall explained the great importance of these bats to villagers of Comoros. ronmental education, re s e a rch and moni- toring, captive breeding, and sustainable L i v i n g s t o n e ’s flying fox. “We need the ing foxes embarked again on their daily d e v e l o p m e n t . f o rest for wood to build, roots for medi- s e a rch for food, we were ready to follow The plan is to be implemented mostly cines, and streams for drinking water. w h e rever they led us. by rural community groups and Co- And the trees need bats,” one villager morian non-governmental org a n i z a t i o n s , said during a meeting on the conserv a- BRENT J. SEWALL conducted this re s e a rc h with the support of the government and tion plan. “How can we exist without the and coordinated the development of the Comorian i n t e rna tional groups. We have pre s e n t e d f o rest? Without bats? Conservation may national Livingstone’s Flying Fox Conserv a t i o n this five-year plan to the Comorian gov- be difficult, but it is our only choice.” Action Plan as a graduate student in Conser - e rnment, with the hope that it will be set Back on our ridge-top perch the next vation Biology at the University of Minnesota. He is currently studying the ecology and conserv a - in motion in the near future . d a y, as Daoud and I tracked the flight of a tion of tropical forests at the University of Success will depend upon the engage- pair of Livingstone’s flying foxes, I puz- C a l i f o rni a at Davis. His re s e a rch was part i a l l y ment of rural Comorians, who unfort u- zled over still-unanswered questions. funded by BCI. nately face a host of other problems – Why do the bats prefer the fruits they do? (The author also gratefully acknowledges matching support f rom poverty and poor health to declin- How much forest must be protected to f rom the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Bristol Zoo ing soil fertility – which demand their sustain the bats? What is the best way to G a rdens, Dayton-Wilkie Fund of the Bell Museum of Natural H i s t o ry, University of Minnesota’s MacArthur pro g r a m , attention. Yet these very issues have con- meet the needs of both bats and people? University of Minnesota’s Office of International Pro g r a m s , and University of Minnesota’s Conservation Biology pro g r a m . vinced many We had already learned a great deal, Collaborators included Projet Biodiversité and Action Comore s - C o m o r i a n s but there was much more to learn about Anjouan. Other field assistants included Ishaka Saïd, Joseph Hawes, Soilih Ridjali, Soyade ben Saïd Mardjan, Ahmed of the need the bats’ foraging ecology and how best Abdallah, Abdou Saïd, Elise Granek, and all of the Moheli to pro t e c t to protect them. As the Livingstone’s fly- Marine Park ecogardes.)

Plan now to see the bats of Bra c k en Cave MA R K YO U R CA L E N D A R N O W to join BCI staff and fe l l o w members this summer to see the spectacular emergence of 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats from Bra c k en Cave near San A n t o n i o , Te x a s . Our 2004 Bra c k en Member Nights will be June 26, J u l y 10 and 24, August 7, 2 1 , and 28, and September 4 and 11. We won’t begin accepting reservations until May 3, 2 0 0 4 , so please don’t call before then. Each member may bring three family members . S p a c e is limited, so make your plans now.

Volume 21, No. 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 11 B A T S BCI’s Distinguished Bat Conservationist of the Ye a r Keith Christenson: Bats’ Ambassador-at-Large

eith Christenson’s wife, Jen, re p resents the United States in various countries as a State Department off i- Kcial. Keith re p resents bats. A caving enthusiast whose encounters with bats and BCI con- vinced him to become a bat biologist, Christenson discovere d and documented bat caves, advised wildlife agencies, and edu- cated people from Cuba to Africa on the importance of bats to economic and environmental health. Much of that was done on his own during his travels as a “diplomatic spouse.” For his accomplishments as a dedicated, if unofficial, bat a m b a s s a d o r, Bat Conservation International recognizes Keith Christenson as the Bat Conservationist of the Year for 2003. Christenson, a BCI member since 1994, describes his educa- tional history as “checkered.” He went to Pennsylvania State University in 1983 for an aerospace engineering degree, a plan that didn’t work out. About eight years later, the amateur caver e n c o u n t e red Jim Kennedy, now BCI’s Cave Resources Specialist, and found his interests focusing on bats and other small, cave- dwelling mammals. Landing a job with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Christenson worked with longtime BCI part n e r Cal Butchkoski and “quickly realized that working with bats was my calling.” He re t u rned to Penn State, earning a bachelor’s and later a m a s t e r’s degree in wildlife and fisheries science. “My interest in bats had always been high, but after Merlin Tuttle and Janet parks agency. He kept it up after moving to Panama and later Ty b u rec began holding bat workshops in Pennsylvania, I was Zambia, and also made working visits to Peru and Cuba. hooked fore v e r.” He participated as a facilitator at several of the E v e ry w h e re he went, Christenson identified caves used by workshops during his highly productive six years with the bats, educated communities and officials about the values and Game Commission. needs of bats, and provided government agencies with inform a- Then he married Jen and promptly found himself living in the tion that is essential for protecting cave-dwelling bats. Dominican Republic. Over the next two years, on a purely vol- The family recently re t u rned to the United States, living now unteer basis, he visited 200 caves, documented bats in almost in the Washington, D.C., area, where this ambassador for bats is 100 of them, and wrote conservation re p o rts for the national still on the job.

Get hands-on experience in bat-conservation country near Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, plus a Still time to sign up and field-research techniques at BCI’s 2004 Bat special acoustic-monitoring session in Arizona. Conservation and Management Workshops. (Please note the revised schedule for the for a In addition to our popular sessions in Portal, Acoustic-Monitoring workshop.) Arizona, and Barree, Pennsylvania, we’re adding BCI Field Workshop a workshop this year in the heart of U.S. karst The 2004 Workshop Schedule:

B A T S 12 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 Volume 21, No. 4 Service Awards Corporate Conservationist of the Year Coeur Rochester Builds a New Bat-conservation Model hen the Coeur d’Alene Mines’ Rochester operation in Ne- Wvada targeted the Nevada P a c k a rd silver-mining district for develop- ment, it discovered about 110 To w n s e n d ’s b i g - e a red bats (C o ry n o rhinus townsendii) roosting in the complex of abandoned mine workings. Though it was not re q u i red to do so, Coeur Rochester, under the leader- ship of Environmental Manager Jerry H e p w o rth, invested more than $110,000 over three years to rescue these bats and find new, improved homes for them. Along the way, the company developed what it A Coeur Rochester hopes will be a carefully documented staffer backs carefully into an old mine as part model for future relocations of the species. of the company’s efforts For its extraord i n a ry eff o rts to pro t e c t to safely relocate bats these bats and improve scientific knowl- that have been using edge about their habitat needs, Bat abandoned mine work- ings in Nevada. C o n s e rva tion International honors Coeur Rochester as its 2003 Corporate Conser- vationist of the Ye a r. Nevada Packard was mined interm i t- it an ideal setting to conduct the re s e a rch and develop a model. tently from the 1890s to 1970s, work that left about 150 open- The project included winter and summer surveys and an ings in the area where Coeur Rochester identified a commerc i a l- analysis of 79 candidates for alternative roosting sites, of which ly viable ore b o d y. Upon discovering that To w n s e n d ’s big-eare d six were selected as optimal. Two exclusions were undert a k e n , bats were using the old workings as seasonal habitat, Rochester each planned to minimize risks to the bats. Subsequent surv e y s decided to “redefine the state of the art” in reclamation of aban- found no bats in the old workings, and additional surveys are doned mines. The company teamed with University of New planned to confirm that. Meanwhile, bat-friendly gates are Mexico Professors William L. Gannon and Richard E. Sherw i n planned at the six alternative sites, where monitoring continues. (a former BCI Scholar) to study the reclamation of bat-inhabit- The systematically collected data, both fundamental re s e a rc h ed mine works, put the new knowledge to practical use, and and its application in the field, already have been the subject of monitor the results. Rochester added its own financial support four peer- reviewed publications, with at least seven more in var- to a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant for the ious stages of completion. Much of the exclusion and habitat G a n n o n - S h e rwin study. i n f o rmation has already been re p o rted to the Nevada Division of Simply moving big-eared bats from one shaft to another was Wildlife and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to help sim- not enough to ensure survival. Because their habitat needs vary ilar eff o rts in the future . a c c o rding to seasonal, re p roductive, hibernation, and feeding “ We are proud of what happened here,” the company said. re q u i rements, careful planning was re q u i red for successful re l o- “The old miners created the habitat. The new miners cleaned up cation. The broad extent of workings at Nevada Packard made after the old, found the bats new homes, and improved public

Arizona Pennsylvania Tuition of $1,195 covers all materials, meals, Session 1: June 3-8, 2004 August 29-September 3, 2004 lodging, and transportation from the depart u re (Acoustic Monitoring) Departure city: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania c i t y. For information or online registration form s , Session 2: June 8-13, 2004 Kentucky visit w w w. b a t c o n . o rg / t r i p s / t o p t r i p s . h t m l o r Session 3: June 13-18, 2004 September 7-12, 2004 contact Andy Moore at a m o o r e @ b a t c o n . o rg o r Departure city: Tucson, Arizona D e p a rt u re city: Nashville, Te n n e s s e e (512) 327-9721.

Volume 21, No. 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 13 B A T S N E W S A N D N O T E S A Neew KKiinnd of Baat Houuse

at Conservation International has for several years been developing and testing a new Bgeneration of artificial bat roosts. These new roosts are designed specifically for forest-dwelling bats that historically required extra-large hollows found only in ancient trees. Solving the roosting needs of these bats is urg e n t . As North America’s old-growth forests were har- vested, many of them more than a century ago, bats that relied on big tree hollows lost their homes. Those that survived often moved into the empty rooms of abandoned cabins. Now even these are dis- appearing as the aging and often abandoned stru c- t u res collapse or are torn down. With few altern a- tives available, new solutions are critical. Experimental roosts made of concrete culverts are alre a d y These experimental bat roosts, made of cinder block to keep costs down, are designed to provide homes for Rafinesque’s big-eared bats (left), attracting bats, but their which are running out of roosting alternatives in the forests. use is limited by the high cost of transporting and ere c t- National Wildlife Refuge in Mississippi, again thanks to ing these extremely heavy sec- Offield’s generosity and a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Land tions. A solution is now being test- Management through the National Fish and Wi l d l i f e ed in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave Foundation. National Park, where one of the state’s If successful, this new approach could provide desperately few remaining nursery needed roosts for some of America’s most threatened forest bats. colonies of Rafinesque’s To help support this important, continuing re s e a rc h , b i g - e a r ed bats (C o ry - please contact Mark Kiser at m k i s e r @ b a t c o n . o rg o r n o rhi nus rafinesquii) will (512) 327-9721. soon be evicted from an old building. When that happens, the bats will find the first-ever Bats & Forests c i n d e r-block ro o s t s . any of North America’s top foresters and bat biologists Designed by BCI Mwill be in Hot Springs, Arkansas, March 9-12 for the 2nd and paid for with Bats and Forests Symposium and Workshop. Organized by Bat contributions fro m Conservation International, the session will feature the latest BCI member Paxson research on how bats use forests and how efficient forest O f field, these experi- management can enhance bat conservation.The symposium mental roosts are much features scientific presentations, posters, field trips, and a special half-day workshop on techniques for managing bat habitat. Co- less expensive to build. sponsors include the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network, the Another pair of cin- American Forest and Paper Association, the National Council der-block roosts is for Air and Stream Improvement, the U.S. Bureau of Land planned at Saint Management, and the U.S. Forest Service. Information: C a t h e r i n e www.batcon.org/nasbf.html C r e e k

B A T S 14 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 Volume 21, No. 4 Amazon Eco-Adventure See Bats & Ruins Join BCI for an unforgettable cru i s e in Southern Peru April 7-19, 2004

ruise the Amazon with Bat Con- but during the height of Amazon flood- ravel with BCI deep into the s e r vation International Founder ing, the best time for spotting land-lov- T Amazon Basin and high into the C Merlin Tuttle into one of the ing animals, such as boa constrictors and Andes. On this spectacular adventure, world’s richest wildlife habitats, home to jaguars. Relying on his deep knowledge we will explore remote tropical rain scores of bat species, colorful birds, huge of Amazon River waterways and wildlife forests and the highland cloud forests caimans, and the remarkable white concentrations, Moa will take us by surrounding Machu Picchu.These two uacari, a monkey with long white fur canoe deep into his favorite flooded-for- ecosystems are teeming with amazing and a bright red face. est waterways, both day and night. bats (fish-, frog-, nectar- and fruit-eaters, Fabled Amazon riverboat Captain Moa Captain Moa’s Victoria Amazonica pro- as well as vampire bats) and other wildlife. Fiona Reid, author of A Field Fortes and Brazilian biologists will take vides private (double-occupancy) rooms Guide to the Mammals of Central us into some of the most remote regions with air-conditioning and baths, a beau- America and Southeast Mexico, leads this of Brazil’s Mamiraua Reserve, the largest tiful dining room and bar, gourmet food, amazing ecotour. single block of protected rain forest in an upper viewing deck, and an assort- the world. ment of motorized canoes. $4,500 from Lima (includes a tax- Within this seasonally flooded fore s t Due to the exceptional popularity of deductible $500 contribution re s e rve, we may see more than 250 species these trips, we are offering two during to BCI’s Global Grassroots program) of birds, including primitive hoatzins, 2004 – the first June 3-15 and the sec- p a rrots, and toucans, and such mammals ond June 12-24. The cost, including For more information and to register as manatees, dolphins, capybaras, sloths, round-trip airfare from Miami, is $3,950 online, visit our Web site at www.bat- giant otters, and jaguars. Ten species of per person, which includes all accommo- con.org/trips/toptrips.html or contact monkeys and marmosets scamper noisily dations and meals aboard the boat and a Andy Moore at [email protected] or (512) 327-9721. in the trees. The largest known popula- tax-deductible $1,000 contribution to tion of black caiman, some re a c h i n g BCI. Your contribution will be used to lengths of up to 18 feet (5.4 meters) long, s u p p o rt urgently needed conserv a t i o n s h a res the waterways with anacondas. projects in Latin America. Evenings will be spent netting and pho- We hope you will join us for this unique tographing bats along upland jungle a d v e n t u re. To re s e rve your place, please trails. A dazzling array of bats can be call Pat Ludden today at expected, including vampires, frog-, fru i t - ( 5 1 2)327-9721, e x t . and nectar-eaters, fishing bats, and possi- 26. bly even carn i v o res with wingspans up to t h ree feet (1 meter). Last year, on the less- diverse Rio Negro, we saw 35 species. We arrive after the rainy season,

Volume 21, No. 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 15 B A T S ‘The Call of thethe Wild’ The That outdated old cell phone you So help the Wish List h a v e n ’t used in years can help save some Houston Zoo bats instead of gathering dust in a desk help bats and Your help with any of these special needs will drawer or closet. The Houston Zoo has get rid of a bit directly improve BCI’s ability to protect bats launched a cell-phone recycling pro g r a m of techno-clut- and bat habitats. To contribute or for more that sends 100 percent of the money it ter at the same information, please contact Acting Development Director Nicole Daspit at raises directly to Bat Conserv a t i o n time. The zoo (512) 327-9721 or [email protected]. I n t e rn a t i o n a l . set up a phone- The Wi r eless Foundation pays for recycling bin at Vietnam’s Threatened Bats e v e ry cell phone, battery, or charg e r its gift shop and t h a t ’s donated for recycling. The collect- will also accept Bat research and conservation is only ed phones will be refurbished and sold or cell phones that just beginning in Vietnam, where these invaluable mammals are widely consid- safely recycled. The Houston Zoo chose a re mailed to: ered not only a symbol of bad luck, but BCI as the sole recipient of its phone- Houston Zoo Inc. also a favored menu item. Bat popula- recycling program, issuing the appeal: Cell Phone Recycle tions of Vietnam’s Cat Ba National Park, “Answer the Call of the Wild – Be a Bat 1513 North MacGre g o r meanwhile, are under increasing pres- C ru s a d e r. ” Houston, TX 77030 sure from unregulated hunters who har- vest bats for human consumption. This A Welcoming Gate tropical island park includes wonderfully diverse habitats ranging from limestone Blowing Hole Cave on Florida’s mountains to swamp forests, yet only Withlacoochee State Forest once shel- four bat species have thus far been doc- t e red a colony of southeastern myotis umented there. (Myotis austro r i p a r i u s), a species that has The Vietnam Center for Natura l declined alarmingly because of human Resources and Environmental Studies disturbance of its roosts in caves. requests a Global Grassroots Con- The declining colony disappeare d servation Fund grant of $4,940 to con- e n t i rely after installation of a gate that duct baseline population surveys in the park. The results will be used for local i n a d v e r tently excluded bats. Now, bat-awareness programs. thanks to funding from the Florida Division of Fore s t ry, advice from BCI’s Piercing the Darkness Winning Pollinators Cave Resources Specialist Jim Kennedy, Pollination Partnerships in Texas, a trav- and construction expertise from BCI A constant challenge in studying bats eling exhibit featuring bats and other member and veteran cave-gater Roy is that most of them are active only at pollinators, won third place in a nation- Powers, there is a chance for the bats to night. Studying their behavior and habitat use requires night-vision equipment. al Media Awards Competition. rebuild their colony. BCI biologists find themselves hampered Developed by the Botanical Researc h This past summer, Powers and his by worn-out infrared light sources for Institute of Texas and supported by the team installed a cupola-style gate over our two night-vision scopes.To improve National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Blowing Hole Cave’s entrance. For the our research and educational effective- and Pier 1, the exhibit teaches about “one first time in many years, bats will have a ness, we need two IR6 lamps ($450 of the most vital ecological processes on chance to enter and exit freely without total) and two battery packs and charg- e a rth: the plant and pollinator re l a t i o n- t h reat of disturbance. ers ($160 total). ship.” The bat portion of the exhibit is based on photos and Sharing Knowledge i n f o rmation provided by BCI. Nothing changes attitudes about bats About 160 entries fro m like pictures, and BCI educators use across the United States com- them liberally in frequent presentations peted for the 2003 awards given to schools, community groups, and by the National Association for workshops.To give these presentations I n t e r p r etation. The Te x a s more impact, we need a lightweight, high-resolution LCD projector to dis- exhibit, displayed at a number play PowerPoint presentations from a of Texas sites, will be at the laptop computer to a projection University of North Texas in screen.The cost is $2,000. Denton through March 2004.

B A T S 16 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 Volume 21, No. 4 The Discove rer of Ech o l o c a t i o n Tra n s fo r med Bat Re s e a rch Donald R. Gri f fin (1915 - 2 0 0 3 ) Donald Griffin discove red bats’ use of echolocation in gated with an unidentified “sixth sense.” 1 9 4 0 , opening what he once called a “magic well” fro m Swiss zoologist Charles Ju r i n e, m e a n w h i l e, found that which scientists have been extracting knowledge ever since. blocking one of a bat’s ears spoiled its navigating abilities, a M o re than six decades later, that well is still pumping. finding Spallanzani pursued, eve n t u a l ly concluding that bats E c h o l o c a t i o n , a term he coined, s o m e h ow see with their ears, has been confirmed in a wide p e r h a ps using sound.That notion variety of animals and become a was considered pre p o s t e rous by cornerstone of bat re s e a rc h . his peers. It languished until G r i f f i n , who did so much to Griffin puzzled over the ability of reveal the wo n d rous complexity bats to fly at high speeds thro u g h of bats, died November 7, 2 0 0 3 , pitch-dark caves without running at his home in Lexington, into each other or walls. M a s s a c h u s e t t s . He was 88. Griffin recalled years later G r i f f i n ’s wife, Jo c e lyn Crane, d i e d that Harv a rd Physics Pro fe s s o r in 1998; he is surv i ved by two George Washington Pierce had daughters and a son. A n d , n o t e s d eveloped a “sonic re c e i ver” to bat biologist M. B rock Fe n t o n , study insect sounds. The dev i c e B i o l o gy Department Chair at the took high-frequency sounds U n i versity of Western Ontario, b e yond the range of human “he is surv i ved by his wo r k . H e hearing and reduced the pitch to left the world of biology a mu c h an audible leve l . Griffin conv i n c e d richer place.” the pro fessor to use the re c e i ver while bats flew about his Few scientists have done more to fascinate the public l a b o r a t o r y.Those first runs in about 1938 we re disap p o i n t- about bats. BCI Founder Merlin Tuttle remembers him fo r i n g . Griffin and Galambos explored and tested until they his early encouragement, while BCI Science Officer Barbara eve n t u a l ly demonstrated that bats we re in fact emitting a F rench found him a wonderful mentor, p roviding priceless s t ream of high-frequency sonic beeps in flight and that kindness and enthusiasm in support of her studies of fre e - blocking either hearing or sound emission caused the bats tailed bat commu n i c a t i o n . And bat re s e a rchers around the to bump into obstacles. “These we re,” Griffin understated, world will long remember Griffin’s lead-off presentation at “surprising results in 1940.” B C I ’s Echolocation Symposium in A u s t i n , Te x a s , last ye a r. Griffin continued his innov a t i ve experiments over the Donald Redfield Griffin, born August 3, 1 9 1 5 , i n ye a r s , soon confirming that bats adjust their sonic beeps fo r S o u t h a m p t o n , N ew Yo r k , published his classic book, L i s t e n i n g the task at hand (whether collision avo i d a n c e , s e a rching fo r in the Dark, in 1958, describing the biological sonar system p rey, or closing in to attack) and analyze the echoes of the of bats and how they use it both for high-speed collision- beeps with surprising pre c i s i o n . “Animals do not perfo r m avoidance and to locate, t r a c k , and cap t u re flying insects. I t m i r a c l e s ,” Griffin wrote of echolocation in 1988,“but some was an epic discove r y in biology and was not without con- of their capabilities would have seemed magical had anyo n e t roversy at the time. ve n t u red to suggest them 50 years ago.” He saw echolocation confirmed not only in most bat G r i f f i n , elected to the National A c a d e my of Sciences in s p e c i e s , but also in toothed whales, p o r p o i s e s , s h rew s , o i l- 1 9 6 0 , was a pro fessor of zoology at Cornell Unive r s i t y, b i rd s , and sw i f t l e t s . Griffin was a Harv a rd University under- H a r v a rd , and Rocke feller Unive r s i t y, f rom which he re t i re d grad when he conducted the pioneering re s e a rch with fe l- in 1986. His re t i rement hard ly ended his re s e a rc h : G r i f f i n l ow student Robert Galambos from 1938 to 1942. c o n t i nued to present papers at national and international But the seeds of the echolocation story we re planted m e e t i n g s , p roviding key ideas and encouragement to a vari- 150 years earlier [BAT S, Summer 1991]. E i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y ety of students and scholars. Italian scientist Lazarro Spallanzani put an owl and a bat in a The re s e a rch Griffin spawned continues unabated, a s c o m p l e t e ly dark room and found that while the bat flew each new bit of knowledge seems to spark still more ques- e f fo r t l e s s ly, the owl kept bumping into objects in its flight t i o n s . “Don took us to the magic well of echolocation,” p a t h . When he cove red the bat’s head, it also had tro u b l e Fenton said.“It is his we l l , but he alw ays shared it,and he will n avigating in darkness. Spallanzani concluded that bats nav i- ever be with those who go there.”

Volume 21, No. 4 W I N T E R 2 0 0 3 17 B A T S Building Tomorrow’s Leaders for Bat Conservation

at Conservation Intern a t i o n a l ’s Student needs of the long-fin- Scholarship Fund has helped 172 young g e r ed myotis (M y o t i s Bscientists conduct re s e a rch on vital bat- c a p a c c i n i i ) to impro v e c o n s e rva tion issues in 44 countries over the the management of vul- past 13 years. These scholarships support pro- nerable populations in jects that are critical for today’s conserv a t i o n the Dadion Forest Re- planning, while they also pre p a re a new gener- s e rve of Gre e c e . ation of biologists and conservationists to • B r oadcasting the expand the worldwide eff o rts begun by BCI. sounds of bat echoloca- Our 14 student scholars for 2003 are tion over Texas crops to exploring a wide range of topics in 12 coun- test their eff e c t i v e n e s s tries. A sampling: in repelling moth pests. • Researching diet, habitat use, and con- • Evaluating selective s e rvation needs of cave-dependent bats in f o re s t ry practices to bet- M a d a g a s c a r’s Bemaraha National Park to bet- ter protect bat diversity ter balance tourism with bat conservation. and ensure forest health • Evaluating the roosting and habitat in Brazil. • Studying detailed 2003 Oracle Bat distribution of New Z e a l a n d ’s two native bat 2002 BCI Scholar Shiang-Fan Chen of the University of Bristol weighs a Formosan lesser Re s e a r ch Sch o l a r s species to help pre d i c t horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus monoceros) as part of her research on the species’ social struc- key roosting sites. ture and population trends for use in conservation planning for cave-dwelling bats in Taiwan. A generous grant from the Oracle Corporation of A lack of scientific knowledge remains one could fund only 14. Redwood Shores, California, allowed BCI to provide of the biggest threats to progress in bat con- An international panel of nine leading bat research scholarships to nine students working in servation, and the primary hurdle to helping scientists is currently reviewing our 2004 eight countries in 2003: m o r e young conservationists pursue that scholarship applications. Your donation today Rasit Bilgin, Columbia University (Tu r k e y ) knowledge is insufficient financial support. can help ensure that these dedicated students Glen Greaves, University of Otago (New Zealand) Every year we must reject many worthy and their conservation projects will not be Amyot Kofoky, University of Aberdeen (Madagascar) applicants. In our most recent review period, left out. Help BCI make 2004 our most suc- Marco Mello, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil) we received a total of 56 applications, but we cessful scholarship year! Nathan Muchhala, University of Miami (Ecuador) Eleni Papadatou, Leeds University (Greece) To learn how you or your company can support deserving young conservationists, please contact: Sandra Peters, University of Toronto (Brazil) Nicole Daspit, Acting Director of Development Genevieve Spanjer, York University (Canada) Bat Conservation International Christopher Tu r b i l l, University of New England (Australia) P.O. Box 162603 Austin, TX 78716 (512) 327-9721 n d a s p i t @ b a t c o n . o r g

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PA I D A U S T I N , T E X A S P.O. Box 162603 PERMIT NO. 1530 Austin, TX 78716-2603 U.S.A.

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