In just a few-week period in late 2015, the government of the East African island nation of Mauritius killed more than 18,000 of its endemic flying fox bats (also known as fruit bats). As of December 2015, only an estimated 40,000 remained—meaning that more than 50% of the world´s population of Pteropus niger had been slaughtered. This cull is a major blow to our fight to defend biological diversity, and this species desperately needs our help.[teaserbreak]
The bats are being culled because farmers blame them for damaging crops, when, in actuality, exotic birds and fungus are primarily to blame. In addition, this island has already lost two species of endemic flying foxes.
The Mauritius government was supposed to stop the culling on November 27, 2015—yet, the culling continued until December 10, 2015. As of late December 2015, The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List was reassessing the species, and it is very likely that it will be upgraded to Endangered or Critically Endangered—even though the government claims that the bats are only Vulnerable.
The culling occurred despite stern warnings from many renowned bat scientists, Mauritian citizens, and concerned wildlife conservation organizations. The government has also extended the methods to allow any interested citizen to be able to legally kill the bats using any method, without a permit.
By allowing this to continue, a dangerous precedent is set, as it opens the door for Mauritius to carry out culls every year. Other countries may also be tempted to conduct culls for similar electoral purposes. We must end this practice without delay.
Culling of animals, regardless of species, is controversial, inhumane, and short-sighted. Culling poses serious animal welfare and ecological concerns. For example, many of the bats culled during this period were lactating females. Killing them leaves their babies to starve to death, and those who are partially wounded or not killed immediately endure tremendous suffering.
These bats are extremely important to Mauritius’ biodiversity. According to Dr. Rodrigo Medellín, known as “The Bat Man of Mexico”: “Bats provide crucial ecosystem services by dispersing seeds, pollinating flowers, and eating agricultural insect pests. It is time we give back, protect, and respect our nocturnal allies.” And, given that “less than 2 percent of Mauritius is still forested and that deadly floods that affected the island in 2013 were likely worsened by widespread deforestation,”1 killing ecologically important flying fox bats would further devastate this country’s vegetation.
Born Free Foundation and Born Free USA are working with The IUCN Bat Specialist Group (BSG) to protect this species. To date, BSG has met with legislators and government officials; sent letters from many organizations, including IUCN, the Society for Conservation Biology, and World Wildlife Fund; and published pieces on National Geographic, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, and more. Additionally, Professor Tigga Kingston, the co-chair of BSG, visited Mauritius in December 2015 to document and discuss this issue with local conservation professionals and government officials. However, as of late December 2015, all of these efforts were to no avail, as the Mauritian government and general public continued to kill thousands of bats each day.
Born Free Foundation is also working with the Association of British Travel Agents, which will write to the government of Mauritius to raise concerns about this cull and ask for an independent assessment. In addition, Born Free Foundation and Born Free USA signed on to a Species Survival Network letter, urging the Mauritian government to request an immediate stop to the culling.
The culling of the Mauritius bats has sparked a global outrage and tarnished the international conservation image of Mauritius. This is a unique opportunity for Mauritius to end the cull, showing the world that a humane, science-based approach between economic development and protection of wildlife can be achieved.
You can help by signing and sharing these petitions:
- Stop barbaric shooting of thousands of endemic flying foxes of Mauritius
- Stop the Mauritian government from killing fruit bats without considering actual evidence
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Footnotes
1 Racey, P.A. and Rodrigo A. Medellín. 2015. Opinion: Killing Thousands of Flying Foxes Only Hurts the Environment. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151111-bats-mauritius-flying-foxes-animals-science-conservation/.