Going green with bats and Nkorho

  The preservation of biodiversity is a topic of insurmountable importance and one that thanks to various institutions and protocols, is being accepted, adopted and adapted by countries around the globe.

  Like any science, it is comprised of many facets and fields which holistically, should encompass every single aspect of ecosystems, their flora and fauna and their interrelationships with one another. The accuracy of our understanding is therefore paramount to the successful implementation of programmes to the betterment of our ecosystems and all their denizens.

 One species of great importance and to be discussed here in detail is the bat. 

Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight (true flight as opposed to gliding, which can be seen in some other mammalian species like the sugar gliders - a species of squirrel with large flaps of skin between the fore and hind legs, called interstitial skin and used to aid gliders in gradual descent from height. A trait used to primarily evade predators and to move from one feeding area to another without having to traverse the dangerous forest floors below).
The bats’ ability to fly however, could have stemmed out of necessity or the exploitation of a niche previously unoccupied. 

Today, bats fall into two primary categories: Megachiroptera (fruit/pollen/nectar feeding) and the insectivores (Microchiroptera) with their sophisticated echolocation.
Whether a dainty feeder of insects, or a fruit bat with a 60cm wingspan, both Suborders of the Order Chiroptera are very important contributors to the health of our ecosystems with some being actual keystone species (a plant or creature that should it go extinct, would cause the demise of one or more species dependant on the keystone species for survival).

  An example of a keystone species is the fruit bat and the Baobab tree. Once a year, Baobabs flower in the darkest recesses of night when their symbiotic friends are active. The large white flowers of the Baobab offer voluminous amounts of sweet nectar which the fruit bats climb head first into the flowers to reach, all the while brushing up against the stamens of flowers and covering their heads with pollen.

As they move from tree to tree, they inadvertently pollinate every Baobab they feed on, thus ensuring the survival of a species.

    With this in mind, Nkorho has recently adapted to the occurrence of bats in our thatching. The identification of which species though, is a rigmarole that can only be ascertained with accuracy with the aid of catch nets and close inspection. We do however, have three species of which we are sure; Peter’s Epauletted Fruit Bat (feeding on the Sycamore  fig fruit), one tomb bat (living at room 5’s overhang) and yellow house bats which also happen to be the culprits in the thatching,  a dilemma which needed resolving.
While important to our ecosystems, they are still rather unhygienic and in some countries can harbour virulent diseases. It is this concern that needed addressing and resulted in the erection of two bat-boxes(see below), one box in the open and maintaining a high temperature while the other is in a more shaded area with a lower temperature.

As it stands, the bat-box with the most exposure to the sun is proving the more successful of the two with residents in occupancy already, which I find surprising and worth a bit more research.

  Aside from the two new bat-boxes, we have also made use of fishing gut inside the rooms where we have zigzagged the transparent chord along the central V where the thatching meets, impeding the bats from accessing their former roosts and hopefully ushering them towards their plush new homes. Now, we sit in hope that our efforts prove to be a fruitful recourse, but only time will tell and which of course, we will update you of in future.

 All said and done, the magnitude of the information expressed above thus makes it painfully clear that man must set aside primitive notions and superstitions regarding the furry little fliers and take measures to ensure that everything is done to preserve a place for them in our fragile ecosystems where biodiversity proves the greatest strength and stability thereof.

-          Sean Matthewson