2023 Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 7
The bats arrived on March 20th. They
were driven to us by two dedicated
zoo employees. They had traveled
throughout the night for the 13-hour
road trip to Bat World Sanctuary.
Upon arrival, when the back of the
van was opened, we were shocked to
see the crates in which the li琀琀le bats
had traveled. The bats themselves
were inside metal mesh cages that
were then placed inside wooden
crates with the tops screwed shut.
Amanda Lollar
The bats coming to us were in a 昀氀ight
area for over one year without being
exposed to a male. In this period of
}me, there should not have been any
pregnancies. It is cri}cally important
that we do not allow the bats to reproduce at our sanctuary as we would
soon run out of the room required to
accept bats in need, like these }ny
girls. S}ll, when the bats arrived, we
intended to check each individual to
be sure the bats were all females.
This meant there was no way to check
on the bats in transit—no way to o昀昀er
fresh food or water, and more importantly, no way to see if any of the
bats were su昀昀ering from stress, or if
they were injured, or otherwise in trouble.
The 琀椀ny bats were shipped inside these
crates. According to the zoo, bats are always
shipped via IATA regula琀椀ons (Interna琀椀onal
Air Transport Associa琀椀on). Note that these
regula琀椀ons were created for shipping dangerous goods.
Amanda Lollar
The females were divided into several
昀氀ight areas. The new Director reached
out to other zoos, where some of
these females were placed, but aver
one year of trying, he was unable to
昀椀nd homes for the remaining 600
bats. We agreed to take 325 of the
bats, which is all we felt we had room
for. We also tried to 昀椀nd homes for
the their remaining bats. Short-tailed
fruit bats are extremely small, and
they are very delicate emo}onally.
Aver much discussion, we agreed to
take approximately 325 of these bats
and the zoo agreed to provide for
their food for the next three years,
which we very much appreciate as
that gives us the }me needed to raise
the funds for their future care.
The bats were inside metal cages within the
wooden crates. Power tools were required to
open the crates.
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