Gomatong Cave

4 Articles Emergence Count Malaysian style In the last issue of the newsletter, we tempted fate by announcing that Michelle was off to do some bat research in Borneo. Fate retaliated by making it impossible for her to get a work permit in time. But a little thing like that ain’t gonna stop Michele. Read on, we defy you not to drool as you read her bland, uniform oil palm plantations. agreement with Bob about how account of Malaysia’s Mulu Fortunately, the landscape soon difficult it is to try and identify them changed dramatically into lush dense using the guidebooks. The small National Park. primary rainforest as we entered the cluster of bats look like cave nectar unspoilt wilderness of Gunung Mulu bats, but I won’t embarrass myself by National Park. After receiving the disappointing Safely grounded, news that I would have to wait until the next next year to participate in the transport option Malaysian bat project, I decided to to the park was console myself with a trip to less comfortable. Malaysian Borneo, for a small taster. How many Borneo need no introduction as a tourists can you wildlife lovers dream orang-utans, fit into a twelve- macaques, proboscis monkeys, seater non air- crocodiles, hornbills, bearded pigs, conditioned turtles… the list is endless. I am minibus? Well, sure Bob and Jude have a few in Malaysia that wildlife stories of their own to tell would be about about meeting all these fantastic sixteen. creatures, so I wanted to write about what was on the top of my “to do list” I arrived just in – a visit to the bat caves of Gunung time for that evening’s tour of the Microbat in Lang Cave Mulu National Park in Sarawak, show caves – Lang and Deer cave, trying to identify the microbat. described in the guide books as a the latter being home to 2-3 million After Lang cave we entered the “true wildlife highlight” and a “sight wrinkled lipped bats. I couldn’t wait! gigantic and impressive Deer cave. not to be missed” and I was not At 2160m long and 220m deep Deer Even before we reached the cave disappointed! cave and Lang cave form the worlds entrance there was an overpowering largest cave corridor (Ref. Lonely smell of ammonia. Deer cave is Mulu is remote, the only way to get to Planet, 2006). Lang cave is the huge. And it smells! But it is a most the park is by plane so I left the town smaller of the two with amazing cave impressive sight and best of all it is of Miri to board the tiniest aeroplane formations of stalagmites and home to what is estimated at for a short 25 minute flight to Mulu stalactites. Few bats live in this cave between two to three million wrinkle- (yes, I realise I have some serious and I was lucky to spot two different lipped bats (members of the free- carbon offsetting to do). As we flew species in the roof crevices. After tailed bat family). Can you imagine out from Miri, the landscape was pouring over my guidebooks, I am in trying to do an emergence count? dominated by acre upon acre of Deer cave is so called because the Bats in Beds The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2007 Volume 79 Articles 5 guano produced by the bats is high directions. It was amazing; I can to bats caves. These would then be in salt, which attracted large numbers only liken the emergence to the way collected and acted as an additional of deer from the area that came to in which starling’s swarm - streams source of protein feed on the guano for salt. This in of bats carving in and out of turn, attracted a large number of formation. The stream of emerging hunters who came for the deer. bats continued for around 40 minutes Hunting is now prohibited in the park. or so. There were so many bats that when they flew overhead, you could When I entered the cave, a handful actually hear the sound of their of bats were flying around, taking wings. advantage of the afternoon’s insect pickings. As you follow the Two keen bat hawks were flying boardwalk, which takes you right around close to the cave entrance. I through the cave, the chattering gets did not see them take any bats but louder and when you look up, the they had such easy pickings and I ceiling is full with bats. knew they would not go hungry. I Unfortunately, the ceiling is so high was also lucky enough to see a that it is hard to actually make out group of seven hornbills flying that they are bats (but the smell and overhead, right over the swarm of noise are a bit of a giveaway). bats. I was in Mulu for three nights Instead you can see large dark and every night I went back to watch Emergence shadows formed by the mass of bats. the bats and they never failed to disappoint. As well as the wrinkle-lipped bats, other species occupy the caves and The bats at Mulu are such a popular surrounding forest. The park has a attraction that a bat observatory has total of twelve recorded bat species, been built where you can buy light including the rare and fully protected refreshments and snacks, sit back naked bat. In the last few weeks, and watch the bats emerge. It was however, the park was pleased to slightly weird having this man-made add a thirteenth species to this list - observatory in the middle of what the greater nectar bat discovered just should have been unspoilt a few weeks earlier. Surrounded by wilderness and I felt it was not 529 sq km of rainforest, caves, rivers necessary. However, when the bats and gorges this new species was emerged you soon forgot about this discovered in the park’s cafeteria! Of blot on the landscape and are fully the thirteen species, it is only the absorbed by the natural marvel of the free-tailed bats that emerge in their bats. You are only reminded of thousands from deer cave at dusk having company through the and form an amazing wildlife audience’s impressed gasps of spectacular. “ooohhs” and “ahhhs” - and not a firework in sight! After the tour of the caves I waited Michelle Henley for the bats to emerge around dusk from 5pm onwards. At roughly Bob and Jude know when they are 5.30pm the first bats emerged, out batted. We did manage to go to forming a long stream, spiralling out towards the sky. It was only a few the Gomantong, but again we were seconds until another few thousands out experienced - read on. bats did the same, all heading in the same direction to their feeding grounds, which range up to tens of Chiroptrivia kilometres away. Then there was Adrian, one of another stream…and another…filling Jude and Bob’s the sky with bats, until there was a guides pointed out a particularly constant stream swarming out from vicious rattan on a forest walk and the cave’s entrance. As more and explained, almost apologetically, that more bats emerged, smaller groups is some areas, locals would string would break off and fly off in different these from ropes across the entrance Bats in Beds The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2007 Volume 79 .

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