Dynamic Partners Bats in Kenya
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WINNING ALLIES FOR 2009-2010 DYNAMIC PARTNERS INCLUDES NATIONAL PARKS & BCI BATS IN KENYA A NNUAL R EPORT WWW.BATCO N.ORG F A L L 2 0 1 0 BATSBATSBAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL THE MEMO from our EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ime and again, Bat Conservation International mem- can achieve. bers prove just how dedicated they are to bats. I’m Unfortunately, however, most thrilled to report that, thanks to our members and sup- Philippine caves are unprotected, Tporters across the country, BCI has been leading in a and many are seriously threatened. vote that could earn us $100,000 for our conservation The Philippine Department of the work with bats of the Philippines. Environment and Natural Resources Bat Conservation International’s Philippines Bats: has passed the Cave Conservation Extinction and Discovery! project was one of five con- Act, but lack of funding has delayed servation efforts selected by The Walt Disney Com- implementation. pany for funding through Disney’s Friends for New funding from Disney’s Change: Project Green. Those who go online to vote Friends for Change: Project Green at the Project Green website will decide how $250,000 would help us expand bat conserva- will be distributed. The program that gets the most tion to --a national level in the Philip- votes will receive $100,000! pines. With this money, we will work ©dave waldien, BCi / 0046872 The Philippines is one of the planet’s top five “bio- with partners to convene national fo- diversity hotspots” because of the nation’s amazing number and rums to identify and implement priority conservation actions variety of species. More than 70 species of bats inhabit the is- across the country. We will expand training to empower Filipino lands, including some of the world’s smallest and largest bats. partners to protect and conserve their bats, invest in sustainable But deforestation, development, hunting and other pressures priority conservation projects nationwide and work with local gravely threaten Philippine ecosystems, and bats face such groups and communities to identify, protect and restore key bat additional hazards as improper guano mining, mass killings and roosts and foraging habitats. overharvesting by commercial and subsistence hunters. Several We are already planning a conservation workshop in the of the islands’ bat species are critically endangered. Philippines in January 2011. And Bat Conservation Interna- Bat Conservation International began working on this tional’s first “Conservation Migration” ecotour will be in the project in the Philippines in 2006, when land-use laws threat- Philippines January 15-28. I will be leading this tour, along ened a critical cave-dwelling bat colony. Norma Monfort, with Fiona Reid, a noted bat expert and wildlife artist. We’ll whose family has owned and protected the cave and its bats for also meet a number of onsite bat biologists, including Dave generations, urgently requested BCI’s assistance. The cave Waldien, BCI’s Vice President for International Programs, who houses about 1.8 million Geoffroy’s rousette fruit bats, recog- will be working in the Philippines at the time. nized as the world’s largest colony of the species. But a BCI as- We still have a few spots left for this exciting trip, so if you’d sessment of other caves in the area revealed catastrophic declines like to join us, please contact BCI at (512) 327-9721, ext. 26, in cave-dwelling bats at those unprotected sites. or [email protected] as soon as possible. BCI and an impressive coalition of local government, aca- A big thanks to everyone who has already voted for bats at demic and non profit partners joined Norma in preserving her Disney’s Friend for Change: Project Green. You are making a stewardship of the cave. We helped launch education, conser- difference! The vote ends on November 12, so please visit the vation and research initiatives that are now blossoming into site as soon as you receive this issue of BATS and vote once a self-sustaining regional and national bat-conservation efforts. week until November 12! You can access the Disney website And Monfort Bat Cave has become a major platform for edu- right from BCI’s home page at www.batcon.org. cation and bat conservation – a testament to what one person Nina Fascione volume 28, no. 3, fall 2010 P.O. Box 162603, Austin, Texas 78716 BATS (512) 327-9721 • Fax (512) 327-9724 FEATURES Publications Staff Director of Publications: Robert Locke Photo Editor: Meera Banta The Memo Graphic Artist: Jason Huerta Copyeditors: Angela England, Valerie Locke BATS welcomes queries from writers. Send your article proposal 2 Succeeding Together with a brief outline and a description of any photos to: BCI and the National Park Service [email protected]. build on years of cooperation Members: Please send changes of address and all cor res - pondence to the address above or via e-mail to members@bat- by Robert Locke con.org. Please include your label, if possible, and allow six weeks for the change of address. Founder: Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle 6 In Search of Bat Splats Executive Director: Nina Fascione Droppings may yield genetic secrets of flying foxes Board of Trustees: John D. Mitchell, Chair by Tammy Mildenstein Bert Grantges, Secretary Marshall T. Steves, Jr., Treasurer Anne-Louise Band; Eugenio Clariond Reyes; John 8 Winning Allies for the Bats of Kenya Hayes; C. Andrew Marcus; Bettina Mathis; Gary F. Mc- by Simon Musila and Judith Mbau Cracken; Steven P. Quarles; Sandy Read; Walter C. Sedg- wick; Marc Weinberger. Honorary Trustees: Sharon R. Forsyth; Elizabeth Ames Jones; Travis Mathis; Wilhelmina Robertson; William 10 Bats & Insecticides Scanlan, Jr. Documenting toxins in the environment Verne R. Read, Chairman Emeritus Scientific Advisory Board: by Ronny Eidels Dr. Leslie S. Hall, Dr. Greg Richards, Bruce Thomson, Australia; Dr. Irina K. Rakhmatulina, Azerbaijan; Dr. Luis F. Aguirre, Bolivia; Dr. Wilson Uieda, Brazil; Dr. M. Brock Fenton, Canada; Dr. Jiri Gaisler, Czech Republic; 12 Flying Under the Influence Dr. Uwe Schmidt, Germany; Dr. Ganapathy Marimuthu, by Dara Orbach Dr. Shahroukh Mistry, India; Dr. Arnulfo Moreno, Mex- ico; Ir. Herman Limpens, Netherlands; Dr. Armando Ro- NEWS & NOTES driguez-Duran, Puerto Rico; Dr. Ya-Fu Lee, Taiwan; Dr. Denny G. Constantine, Robert Currie, Dr. Theodore H. Fleming, Dr. Thomas H. Kunz, Dr. Gary F. McCracken, Dr. Don E. Wilson, United States; Dr. José R. Ochoa G., 14 Teamwork promotes bat awareness Venezuela. Really big bat houses Membership Manager: Amy McCartney BATS (ISSN 1049-0043) is published quarterly by Bat Apply for a BCI Scholarship Con ser vation International, Inc., a nonprofit corporation supported by tax-deductible contributions used for public ed- Members in Action: Smashing pennies for bats ucation, research and conservation of bats and the ecosystems BCI Member Snapshot that depend on them. © Bat Conser vation International, 2010. All rights reserved. The Wish List Bat Conservation International’s mission is to conserve the world’s bats and their ecosystems in order to ensure a healthy planet. A subscription to BATS is included with BCI membership: Senior, Student or Educator $30; Basic $35; Friends of BCI COVER PHOTO: A Marianas flying fox (Pteropus mariannus) pollinates a flower. $45; Supporting $60; Contributing $100; Patron $250; Sus- New research with this species shows that bat droppings can be a ready source taining $500; Founder’s Circle $1,000. Third-class postage paid of DNA for analysis. See Page 6. at Austin, Texas. Send address changes to Bat Conser vation In- © MERliN D. TuTTlE, BCi / 0002501 ternational, P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716. SSUCCEEDINGUCCEEDING TTOGETHEROGETHER BCIBCI andand thethe NationalNational ParkPark ServiceService buildbuild onon yearsyears ofof cooperationcooperation A helicopter delivered tons of materials and gear for bat- friendly gates at the Last Chance by Robert Locke Mine in the rugged Grand Canyon National Park. ©Jason CorBett, BCi / 0047179 he Last Chance Mine held a treasure trove of copper when it The Grand Canyon National Park pilots proved remarkably opened about 1890. But hauling ore out of the Grand Canyon adept at placing tons of materials and gear exactly where they on the backs of mules proved too costly, and the mine shut downneeded to be, and the crews required just a day and a half to get Tin 1907. The spectacular canyon became a national park in the prefabricated gates in place. After months of planning and 1919, and biologists discovered a maternity colony of decades of waiting, the Last Chance Mine was gated and its bats Townsend’s big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii) inside the are protected. mine in 1988. Wildlife managers recommended closing the The helicopter made for a less exhausting effort than during mine’s three openings with bat-friendly gates to protect both an earlier joint project. In 1997, Grand Canyon National Park, people and bats. And that is where things sat for two decades – BCI and other partners used rafts to ferry tons of steel and equip- until Bat Conservation International and Grand Canyon Na- ment 31 miles (50 kilometers) down the Colorado River. Then tional Park joined forces. they carried 200-pound (90-kilogram) steel bars up a near-ver- Jason Corbett, Coordinator of BCI’s Southwest Subterraneantical slope to reach Stanton’s Cave. The result was a large gate, Program, was working with Hattie Oswald of the National Park 20 feet (6 meters) across, that protects a colony of Townsend’s Service on a bat-use survey of Grand Canyon caves and mines big-eared bats. in 2008. They confirmed the importance of the Last Chance Hattie Oswald, meanwhile, notes that Corbett arranged Mine and the need for gates, just as previous biologists had. Thisdonor funding not only for the Last Chance Mine gates, but also time, though, Corbett took the idea to a valued BCI partner, for the continuing Comparative Cave and Mine Use Bat Study.