Painted Bat, Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka

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The painted bat (Kerivoula picta), also known as the painted wooly bat, is widely distributed in South and Southeast Asia but uncommon species to see. This image was taken on a banana plantation in Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka.

Little is known about its ecology but has been recorded from dry deciduous and dipterocarp forests, small woodland patches, floodplains, paddy fields, sugarcane fields, orchards, and mixed plantations. Small groups of these animals (2-4) can be seen roosting inside unusual sites … Read More

Stop Villainizing Bats: Scientists and Conservationists Bust Myths About Bats and COVID-19

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The world is currently battling a pandemic of an unprecedented magnitude. As scientists are struggling to trace the origin of the virus that jumped from animals to human beings, several factions of the media have already convicted bats of spreading COVID-19. What followed is a surge of requests from people demanding the killing or removal of the winged mammals from their neighbourhoods. Responding to this ecological crisis, a collective of bat researchers and conservationists from South Asia has come together … Read More

Short-nosed Fruit Bat and its Tents

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Short-nosed Fruit Bats (Cynopterus sphinx) make their own roosts in the form of hanging tents. These tents are usually made in palm trees, either within the fruiting pods or dry leaves, by removing the center portion of pods/leaves. This small colony made their tent within a Fishtail Palm (Caryota urens). These palms are best suited for these bats and make a great case to encourage planting them in urban parks and gardens.

These were photographed in a park near … Read More

A Beginner’s Guide to Bat-watching

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Anybody who’s looked at the sky at dusk would know that, like birds, bats are ubiquitous. The challenge is not in knowing that they’re there but in finding out who they are and where they came from. The ability to share space with us and yet remain unknown sets bats apart from other animals. And it is precisely this faculty that adds the sense of exploration that makes bat-watching compelling. If you have been intrigued by the mystery of bats … Read More

Red-tailed Trinket eating a Leaf-nosed Bat

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On 16th November 2013, while collecting data on bats in a seashore cave at Havelock Island in the Andamans, my field assistant, Saw Isaac, spotted this beautiful snake and alerted me. The snake was perched safely in a notch at the low roof of the cave, which was occupied by a colony of about a hundred Anderson’s Leaf-nosed Bats (Hipposideros pomona), and was seen constricting its victim. I clicked a few pictures for documentation, after which we left … Read More

First record of Hodgson’s Bat from Western Ghats

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The Hodgson’s Bat (Myotis formosus) is a strikingly colored bat that roosts in foliage. It is a widespread species ranging from Central to South-east Asia. In India it is reported from 14 localities in North and East India and one locality in Central India. This species superficially resembles the more popular Painted Wolly Bat (Kerivoula picta).

On 12th January 2013 at 11:13 h, we (D.V. Girish, Shashank Dalvi, Vishnupriya Sankararaman and Rohit Chakravarty) visited Mullayangiri peak … Read More