Post by Sharon Faulkner on Apr 3, 2006 8:53:02 GMT -5
Zoo goes batty
April 1, 2006
Vampire bat exhibit opens in HerpAquarium building
By Sheldon S. Shafer
The Courier-Journal
"Neat" was 10-year-old Josh Roberts' description of the newest Louisville Zoo exhibit, which opened yesterday. His sister, Kelli Rogers, 17, had a different view: "Disgusting."
Ah, the dichotomy of the vampire bat. With its pointed ears, naked snout and bloodthirsty appetite, the vampire bat is one of the most mysterious and misunderstood creatures, according to the zoo's chief batman, general curator Steve Wing. Dawn Roberts, Josh and Kelli's mother, gets it: "They are very intriguing. I admire the way they live, get food and use sonar."
The zoo's new exhibit, located in its HerpAquarium and stocked initially with seven bachelor bats in a colony expected to grow to 30 or 40 in a year or so, is one of only about 20 in the United States. As they were introduced to the public yesterday, the seven furry, winged, blood-drinking mammals with razor-sharp teeth flocked in a cluster on a wooden beam near the top of the darkened exhibit modeled after an abandoned mine shaft. They swooped down, nearly in unison, to the small pan of cattle blood a keeper placed in the bottom of the glass-enclosed exhibit, lapping up several drops at a time before returning to their high roost, again huddling close, several hanging upside down.
Wing, one of the country's leading experts on bats and chairman of the U.S. Association of Zoos & Aquariums bat advisory group, said researchers believe an enzyme in the vampire bat's saliva can be helpful as a blood thinner to prevent strokes in humans.
Vampire bats are about 3 inches long with a 6- to 8-inch wingspan. They usually live to be about 9. Their range is from northern Mexico to Argentina. They colonize abandoned buildings, hollow trees, caves and even in the Amazon rain forest, officials said. And they eat about two tablespoons of blood a day. The nocturnal vampires typically feast by biting into other mammals, mostly livestock and large birds, and withdrawing blood they lap up. The prey usually doesn't even know it's serving as dinner, said zoo spokeswoman Diana DeVaughn, adding that vampire bats are "not unknown" to consume human blood. At the zoo, they will be fed with cattle blood shipped in from a biological research lab in Tyler, Texas, said John Walczak, the zoo's director. He said females gradually will be incorporated into the colony, perhaps with some eventual breeding.
The first seven bats were donated by the Philadelphia Zoo; the next arrivals are expected to be 10 more males from a zoo in Wichita, Kan., later this spring. Wing said the vampires communicate with squeaks and chatter and rely less on echolocation, similar to sonar, than some bat species. He added that "blind as a bat" is a misnomer; no species is blind and most vampire bats see well.
DeVaughn said the vampire bat exhibit will be open during normal zoo hours, with periodic discussions about them by docents.
Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at (502) 582-7089.
www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060401/NEWS01/604010380
April 1, 2006
Vampire bat exhibit opens in HerpAquarium building
By Sheldon S. Shafer
The Courier-Journal
"Neat" was 10-year-old Josh Roberts' description of the newest Louisville Zoo exhibit, which opened yesterday. His sister, Kelli Rogers, 17, had a different view: "Disgusting."
Ah, the dichotomy of the vampire bat. With its pointed ears, naked snout and bloodthirsty appetite, the vampire bat is one of the most mysterious and misunderstood creatures, according to the zoo's chief batman, general curator Steve Wing. Dawn Roberts, Josh and Kelli's mother, gets it: "They are very intriguing. I admire the way they live, get food and use sonar."
The zoo's new exhibit, located in its HerpAquarium and stocked initially with seven bachelor bats in a colony expected to grow to 30 or 40 in a year or so, is one of only about 20 in the United States. As they were introduced to the public yesterday, the seven furry, winged, blood-drinking mammals with razor-sharp teeth flocked in a cluster on a wooden beam near the top of the darkened exhibit modeled after an abandoned mine shaft. They swooped down, nearly in unison, to the small pan of cattle blood a keeper placed in the bottom of the glass-enclosed exhibit, lapping up several drops at a time before returning to their high roost, again huddling close, several hanging upside down.
Wing, one of the country's leading experts on bats and chairman of the U.S. Association of Zoos & Aquariums bat advisory group, said researchers believe an enzyme in the vampire bat's saliva can be helpful as a blood thinner to prevent strokes in humans.
Vampire bats are about 3 inches long with a 6- to 8-inch wingspan. They usually live to be about 9. Their range is from northern Mexico to Argentina. They colonize abandoned buildings, hollow trees, caves and even in the Amazon rain forest, officials said. And they eat about two tablespoons of blood a day. The nocturnal vampires typically feast by biting into other mammals, mostly livestock and large birds, and withdrawing blood they lap up. The prey usually doesn't even know it's serving as dinner, said zoo spokeswoman Diana DeVaughn, adding that vampire bats are "not unknown" to consume human blood. At the zoo, they will be fed with cattle blood shipped in from a biological research lab in Tyler, Texas, said John Walczak, the zoo's director. He said females gradually will be incorporated into the colony, perhaps with some eventual breeding.
The first seven bats were donated by the Philadelphia Zoo; the next arrivals are expected to be 10 more males from a zoo in Wichita, Kan., later this spring. Wing said the vampires communicate with squeaks and chatter and rely less on echolocation, similar to sonar, than some bat species. He added that "blind as a bat" is a misnomer; no species is blind and most vampire bats see well.
DeVaughn said the vampire bat exhibit will be open during normal zoo hours, with periodic discussions about them by docents.
Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at (502) 582-7089.
www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060401/NEWS01/604010380