Animals Unite ! - Ghost bat

Ghost Bat

The Ghost Bat is one of several species of bats in the world that is in danger and could become extinct if we do not do something to conserve them. Bats have been given a bad reputation by movies and by made up stories (such as vampire stories) and are killed because of this. People are the reason for this problem, so we need to be sure to be the reason that this problem is solved!

Description:

Ghost bats (scientific name is Macroderma gigas ) get their names from their appearance. They have a light gray or almost white appearance. They are small, with a body length between 10 and 15 centimeters and the females are smaller than the males.

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Habitat:

This bat has been found in both arid or dry regions and also rain forest areas. (in Australia) There are only about 4000 to 6000 in the wild there. The food of this bat consists mostly of large insects, frogs, small mammals, lizards, birds, and even other bats.

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Danger:

According to the United Nations Environmental Program World Conservation Monitoring Center the Ghost Bat is vulnerable in the wild. They will leave their homes (caves, etc. ) if humans bother them. Roosting caves are ruined by limestone mining near Mt. Etna in Central Queensland, Australia. There are plans for expanding the mining there. This means that people are the Ghost bat's worst enemy. They have few natural predators. They do have to compete with owls for food also.

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Programs:

Perth Zoo in Australia has colonies of Ghost Bats in their Nocturnal House in an enclosure which is meant to be like an Australian mine shaft. Read more: http://www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au/ghostbat.html
The Fauna Preservation Act protects all five bat species at Mt. Etna in Central Australia, including the Ghost bat. Enforcing this has been difficult though, further endangering this bat.
Read more on this issue at Bat Conservation International:
http://www.batcon.org/

Resources:

Books:
* Extreme Science: Chasing the Ghost Bat and Other Mysteries
of Nature by Peter Jedicke (Editor), Griffin Trade, copyright 2001
* Bats, The Amazing Upside-downers by Phyllis J. Perry
Franklin Watts / Grolier Publishing, copyright 1998
* Extremely Weird Bats by Sarah Lovett
John Muir Publications, copyright 1991
* Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Scholastic Publishing, Inc., copyright 1993
Websites:
* Perth Zoo of Australia: http://www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au
* United Nations Environmental Program World Conservation Monitoring Center: http://www.unep-wcmc.org
Graphics:
* Logo at top: Some of the animals (mountain lion, manatee, and grizzly bear came from Corel Web Graphics (1996) and Corel Draw Version 9 (2000). The leopard is from IUCN-World Conservation Union Website, ghost bat is copyright(c) Perth Zoo, Western Australia, ocelot is courtesy of Tom Smylie of United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife Service.
* Side bar logo is from Power Point 2000.

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