Bat appreciation day: Why Nigerians should change their view of these nighttime gardeners

 

 

 

 

Bats, especially in this part of the world, are a type of animal that people would least consider to be appreciated. Nevertheless, internationally April 17 every year is recognized as International Bat Appreciation Day.

Bats are subject to a lot of negativity. Bats are still associated with demons, the devil, witches, and evil. Many cultures view bats as bad omens or bringers of negative energy. They get a bad reputation as carriers of disease or pests to farmers, notes the Lubee Bat Conservancy.

It adds, “Changing public opinion is very hard, but celebrations like Bat Appreciation Day is a good step in the right direction.”

International Bat Appreciation Day was first introduced by Bat Conservation International (BCI). BCI was founded in 1982 by scientists and conservationists and has grown to an internationally recognized conservation organization.

Between 2014 and 2018, BCI identified 35 critically endangered species across the world in need of protection. The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified over 200 bat species as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered. As of 2023, IUCN has listed 85 species of bat as Endangered and 28 species of bat as Critically Endangered.

Bats, like every part of creation, have a specific and significant role they play in nature and in the maintenance of the ecosystem. In a media chat, Benneth Obitte, a bat conservationist and PhD researcher, highlighted the truth about bats and their role in Nigeria’s ecological stability.

Obitte stated that indeed the bat population in Nigeria is on the decline with certain species being classified as endangered or under threat. He said action should be taken to preserve these bat populations because of the crucial role they play in nature from pollination to disease prevention.

 

Why bats are endangered

He explained that there are certain bat species that live in caves. Caves are now limited in their numbers. “These particular bats,” he said, “are forest dependent and are now endangered in Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.”

The reason for their reducing numbers is not just because they are being hunted. “The most important reason these bats are endangered is habitat loss. These bats are forest dependent. We have lost most of our forests across Nigeria. It is just like bulldozing people’s houses, or taking away their food. Some of them depend on fruits and flowers, while others depend on insects. So when you cut down forests, you are also affecting their food supply.”

He added, “Hunting affects bats, basically the fruit bats because they are bigger. They are mostly hunted in Southern Nigeria. There are also places in Nigeria where bats are hunted and used as ingredients for traditional medicine. That is not a huge problem, the major one is hunting for food. There are reported cases of hunters capturing up to 4,000 bats in just one hunting effort. So this is a huge problem.”

 

What do bats contribute?

Bats are perhaps the most efficient seed dispersers and planters of trees,” Obitte said. “I typically ask people how you imagine these big trees start growing in precarious parts of the forest. 

“The reason bats are very efficient in seed dispersal is that fruit bats that feed on fruits don’t just stay on those trees to eat them. They pick the fruits and fly away, some of them for hundreds of kilometres in just one night. While they fly, they keep consuming the fruits and they drop the seeds wherever they fly to. 

“For fruits with tiny seeds, bats swallow the fruits with the seeds, and defecate as they fly and thereby spread these seeds. This is a very huge ecosystem service that they provide; the dispersal of seeds of important plants.”

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He said bats are major pollinators of Shea butter and dawadawa. “There are flowers that only open at night. Bats are responsible for pollinating such flowers. If they don’t get pollinated by bats that’s it for those plants – there will be no fruiting that year. 

Bats also suppress pests for farmers, the conservationist said. “Insectivorous bats feed on insects. In places where the research has been done (not in Nigeria), plants save farmers several millions every year in avoided costs of insecticide.” He added that in certain places, farmers have built bat houses around their farms so that they don’t need to have insecticides. 

“One bat can eat 500 to 1,000 insects a night. Some bats can eat as much as their body weight. These are pests and worms that would ordinarily decimate crops. 

“Mosquitoes are a big problem in Nigeria. Part of the reasons they have not overwhelmed us is because of bats. Bats feed on mosquitoes and other kinds of harmful vectors of diseases. These are some of the unique ways bats contribute not just to forests but to us and the general environment,” Obitte said.