Bats, as soon as people hear this animal, there will inevitably be a little discomfort in their hearts, because from childhood to adulthood, under the subtle influence of everyone's film and television culture, and family and friends, bats are not an auspicious thing, and even foreshadow ominous, will bring disaster, and the bats that people see in horror movies are also very scary, sucking human blood at every turn, it can be said that it is our childhood shadow, but the bat we want to talk about today is not terrible, it is also a cute animal, Bat wings are generally 1.5 meters long when they are spread, and the largest can reach 1.8 meters, but they are now on the verge of extinction.
According to the British "Daily Mail", scientists warn that the world's largest bat, the fox bat, which lives in Southeast Asia, will become extinct within a few years due to the rampant killing of humans. They said that if indiscriminate hunting and killing continues at the current rate, the fox bats living in western Malaysia (scientific name "pteropus vampyrus") will become extinct within 6 years at the earliest.
The world's largest bat, its body can be 1.8 meters, it is called the fox bat, this bat is currently the largest fruit-eating bat, that is, a bat that eats fruit for a living. The bat's wings can reach six feet, or about 1.82 meters, when spread.
The name of this bat is also more interesting, because this bat is very similar to a mouse, and its face and eyes look very much like a primate lemur, so people call it a lemur.
The fox bat is the largest fruit-eating bat in the world, with a wingspan of up to 6 feet (about 1.82 meters). In Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries, foxes are usually hunted for the purpose of feeding and competing. Locals also believe that fox bats have certain medical value. The number of foxes legally killed in Peninsular Malaysia each year is estimated at around 22,000. The number of illegal killings is still unknown.
The researchers surveyed 33 fox bat habitats in the area and compared the number of foxes with the number of hunting licenses issued by the Malaysian government. In addition, they use satellite launchers to track fox bat activity. It was found that the fox bat moved in an area of hundreds of kilometers between Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Computer analysis of the data shows that human hunting has reached levels beyond the reach of foxes, although according to the most optimistic estimates, the number of foxbats in Southeast Asia is 500,000. Studies have shown that the bat may become extinct within 6 to 81 years, without taking into account legal killings to protect agricultural production and natural elimination.
Study leader Dr Jonathan Epstein, Animal Epidemiologist at the Nature Foundation, said: "Our model shows that hunting in Peninsular Malaysia from 2002 to 2005 has reached levels beyond the reach of foxes, putting the survival of local pteropus vampyrus at risk.
According to our research, the bat migrates between Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, and assessing their survival status through their area of activity is important to find and develop effective management measures. Hunting in Thailand or Indonesia put enormous pressure on the survival of the fox bat and may hasten the demise of the fox bat family. ”
The findings of Epstein et al. were published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology on the 26th. Epstein and colleagues suggested that at the very least a temporary ban should be issued to help restore the fox bat population. According to the study, Malaysia's National Parks and Wildlife Department is re-examining its policies regarding the killing of fox bats.
Research by Albert Eberstein et al. shows that fox bats fly as far as 60 kilometers a night in search of food, and fly hundreds of kilometers between habitats. In tropical rainforest areas, foxbats are important seed propagators and pollinators. With the exception of Sarawak and Borneo, all states in Malaysia give the green light to hunting fox bats. Hunting fox bats is a legal practice in Thailand, and in Indonesia, the bat is even more unprotected. "Our research shows that, like other migrating animals, fox bats need to have a management plan in place to protect them completely," Epstein said. ”
Seeing such a huge and strange-looking fox bat, you must think that it is an extremely dangerous species, the attack power must be very strong, but fortunately, this big guy is vegetarian, fortunately it is vegetarian, if it is a carnivorous species, the consequences are really unimaginable, after all, there are many incidents of bats attacking people.
However, even dangerous species are small in front of humans, due to the large number of human hunting, the number of fox bats has decreased sharply, has been on the verge of extinction, if humans do not stop indiscriminate hunting, fox bats may be extinct within 4 years. In fact, bats are a very dangerous species, because they carry a variety of viruses, Nipah virus, Hendra virus, Ebola virus, etc. are found in bats, so I hope that human beings can stop the flood of curiosity and endless desire, and live in harmony with animals and nature to create a safe and healthy environment