Bats no longer safe from man, says study

Even bats in their once isolated and silent caves are no longer safe from the encroachment of man. Thus, their population continues to decrease owing to such factors as hunting, collection and caving activities of people living near their abode.

This is attested by a study done by researchers of the Silliman University Angelo King Center for Research and Management in Dumaguete City (Negros Occidental) and Negros State College of Agriculture.

Primarily, noted the study, hunting and collection of bats are the main causes of the declining population of these nocturnal flying mammals.

This was further confirmed in interviews with locals, who cited the commonly hunted species, mostly fruit bats such as the common island flying fox, nectar bats or dawn bats and common rousette.

“Hunting materials found abandoned in caves also support this finding,” the researchers said, as recorded by the Los Baños-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

Results of the research were presented at the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium R&D Symposium held recently in Banga, Aklan. PCARRD was one of the symposium’s evaluators.

The study stressed that the decreasing population may indicate a change in the composition of species of bats – smaller species tend to outnumber the large ones.

In the study, 16 species were identified in two caves in Negros Occidental (Kabu­gan and Twin Cages in Kabankalan City) and in Negros Oriental (Mambajo 1 and Kanwitwit Caves in Mabinay town). This number includes six species of fruit bats and 10 species of insect bats.

The people in the area refer to large bats (commonly fruit bats) as kabog while smaller ones are called kulaknit or kuraraknit. The general term for small insect bats is kulakyaw. A sungi looks like a small insect bat, but it has skin flaps on its face that appears like small horseshoes or round leaves.

The study underscored the significant role that bats play in the country’s ecosystem and economy.

For instance, bats and insect bats help in seed dispersal and pollination. Also, insect bats help in controlling insect pests by eating mosquitoes and other insects.

Cave-dwelling bats also help maintain the cave ecosystem by transporting organic materials from the outside and depositing them inside caves as guano (fertilizer made from bat droppings).

“Guanos are superior fertilizer because they contain beneficial fungus that helps plants resist fungal infection,” the study showed.

Another study focused on five caves in Mabinay, Negros Oriental, namely: Mambajo 1, Odluman, Pandanihan, Panligawan and Crystal.

Findings showed that the five caves could be promoted as ecotourism destinations.