Bat Conservation International Bats Magazine

Researchers use traditional and cutting-edge methods to identify species

Volume 44 • Issue 3

;

Learn More

Issue 3 • 2025

Inside this Issue

08

Photo: Rohit Chakravarty

Features

081,500 Bat species and counting

Researchers use traditional and cutting-edge methods to identify species

14nabat turns 10

Celebrating a decade of collaborative bat monitoring across North America

Departments

02Off the Bat

BCI focuses on our mission to save the world’s 1,500+ bat species

06Species Study

Mauritius free-tailed bat

24Bat Chat

Emily Hutcheson, BCI’s 2025 EarthShare Green Leaders Fellow, investigates community partnerships in San Antonio

25Bat Squad

BCI’s award-winning social media focuses on bat charisma and conservation impact

Read past issues of Bats Magazine at batcon.org/batsmag

news & updates

Photo: 44 Productions

18

3Bat Signals

Conservation news and updates

Agave Restoration Initiative wins award
Meet the Himalayan long-tailed myotis
Celebrate Bat Week 2025
First bat habitat bank launches in Colombia

18Field Notes

Research news from around the globe

Artist creates bat sculpture from plant materials
Bat exhibit opens in Jamaica
Projects for Mexican bat conservation
A look at the bats of Costa Rica

ON THE COVER:
The Brazilian funnel-eared bat (Natalus macrourus) is one of the world’s 1,500+ bat species.
Image: Jennifer Barros, Ph.D.

A few words of introduction from your friends at Bat Conservation International

Celebrate Bat Week by Supporting Our Mission

By Karen Kimbell, Director of Philanthropy

O

ctober is a time to celebrate Bat Week—and to celebrate you. Your passion for bats and commitment to conservation are what drive progress and make global impact possible. Across the U.S. and around the world, your support combines with strong partnerships—with agencies, nonprofits, universities, and local communities—to protect bats and their habitats.

In this issue of Bats, you’ll see how that shared effort is making a real difference. We highlight the 10-year anniversary of the North American Bat Monitoring Program, a remarkable collaboration that involves more than 480 partners collecting and sharing data to inform conservation decisions.

Read Full Letter

Masthead

Bat Conservation International (BCI) is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to protecting bats and their essential habitats around the world. A copy of our current financial statement and registration filed by the organization may be obtained by contacting our office in Austin, Texas, address below, or by visiting batcon.org.

Main Office

500 N Capital of TX Hwy, Bldg 8, Suite 225
Austin, TX 78746, USA
512-327-9721

Contributors

Michelle Donahue / Proofreader

Publication Management BackPocket Agency

Bats Magazine welcomes queries from writers. Send your article proposal in a brief outline form and a description of any photos, charts, or other graphics to the Editor at pubs@batcon.org.

Members: We welcome your feedback. Please send letters to the Editor to pubs@batcon.org. Changes of address may be sent to members@batcon.org or to BCI at our Austin, Texas, address above. Please allow four weeks for the change of address to take effect.

Board of Directors

Science Advisory Committee

Senior Staff

Eileen Arbues, Interim Chief Executive Director
Mylea Bayless, Chief of Strategic Partnerships
Winifred Frick, Ph.D., Chief Scientist
Kevin Pierson, Chief of Conservation and Global Strategy

Visit BCI’s website at batcon.org and the following social media sites:

Bat Signals BCI updates and conservation news

Since the Agave Restoration Initiative began in 2018, BCI and partners have collected more than 1 million agave seeds and planted more than 182,000 agaves.

Photo: Horizonline Pictures

Recovery Champions

Agave Restoration Initiative team receives USFWS award

B

at Conservation International’s (BCI’s) Agave Restoration Initiative team recently received the Recovery Champion Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The award recognizes the team’s work advancing the recovery of Endangered and Threatened species like the Endangered Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis), lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae), and Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana).

The Agave Restoration Initiative began in 2018 and currently involves more than 65 partners across 12 U.S. and Mexican states, working together to protect the agave corridor used by these bat species and other wildlife. Since its inception, the team and partners have collected more than 1 million native agave seeds and planted more than 182,000 agaves.

“Being selected from nominations across the country is a powerful affirmation of the impact of the Agave Restoration Initiative, and what is possible with strong binational partnerships,” says BCI’s Agave Restoration Program Director Kristen Lear, Ph.D.

Learn more about BCI’s agave work: batcon.org/agave-restoration

bat signals

Meet the Himalayan long-tailed myotis

BCI researcher publishes article on newly identified Indian bat

A close-up photograph of a bat with its mouth open, revealing its sharp teeth.

Himalayan long-tailed myotis (Myotis himalaicus)

Photo: Rohit Chakravarty

In 2021, BCI India Program Manager Rohit Chakravarty, Ph.D., was working on his doctoral fieldwork when he and his colleagues came across a new bat. They realized it was a bat that hadn’t been scientifically identified before and named it Himalayan long-tailed myotis (Myotis himalaicus) in honor of the mountains where they found it.

The bat is about 3.5 inches long and weighs less than an ounce, with dark brown fur and a lighter golden-brown belly. It has a prominent naked patch around its eyes and a long tail. Chakravarty and his co-authors published their findings about this species in the journal Zootaxa in June 2025.

Read Full Article

There are 1,500+ species of bats in the world. This is one of them.

Mauritius free-tailed bat

Working with community members key to protecting endemic cave-roosting bat

By Annika Hipple

bat stats

Binomial and Common Names

Mormopterus acetabulosus
Mauritian free-tailed bat, Natal free-tailed bat, Mauritius cave bat

Family

Molossidae

Colony Size

From fewer than 20 to approximately 15,000

Weight

Average 7.2 grams

Diet

Insectivorous

Status

Endangered

Region

Mauritius

A simple map of the coast of Africa and the Indian Ocean, in which land is black and water is yellow. The black landmasses are labeled "Africa" and "Madagascar." To the east of Madagascar, two small black dots represent islands, with a line pointing to them and the text "Mauritius" next to it.

Mauritius free-tailed bat

Photo: Isabella Mandl Ph.D.

O

n the small Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, a tiny cave-roosting bat is at risk of disappearing due to human behavior, lack of legal protection, and misinformation about the species’ role in the island’s ecosystem.

Yogishah “Ashmi” Bunsy, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Mauritius and 2021 Bat Conservation International (BCI) Student Scholar, is the first person to formally study the Mauritius free-tailed bat (Mormopterus acetabulosus) within an academic framework. One of three bat species currently found on the island, it was declared endemic to Mauritius as recently as 2008.

Read Full Article

Feature: Bat Taxonomy

1,500 Bat Species and Counting

Researchers use traditional and cutting-edge methods to identify species

By Lindsay Lee Wallace

Himalayan long-tailed bat (Myotis himalaicus)

Photo: Rohit Chakravarty

T

he moment Rohit Chakravarty, Ph.D., saw the bat in the mountains of India’s Uttarakhand state, he knew it was the one he had been seeking for four years. He’d last spotted the species years before, and Chakravarty was eager to examine what would soon be named the Himalayan long-tailed bat (Myotis himalaicus). Chakravarty is Bat Conservation International’s (BCI’s) India Program Manager, and he joined taxonomist Uttam Saikia, Ph.D., and the rest of their team in the field that day to examine the bat they’d carefully netted, evaluating its measurements and the shape of its head and teeth.

“Our team was able to work out a suite of external, cranio-dental (head and teeth) and bacular (penis bone) characteristics unique to this species,” Saikia says. “Supported by genetic data, we were able to confirm that it indeed belongs to a new species.”

Read Full Article

Feature: NABat

NABat Turns 10

Celebrating a decade of collaborative bat monitoring across North America

By Annika Hipple

A team of scientists swab bats in caves in Texas Hill country to monitor the spread and impacts of white-nose syndrome on hibernating species.

Photo: Rachel Harper

A team of scientists swab bats in caves in Texas Hill country to monitor the spread and impacts of white-nose syndrome on hibernating species.

Photo: Rachel Harper

Celebrating a decade of collaborative bat monitoring across North America

By Annika Hipple

T

he population of northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis) has declined up to 99% in some hibernation sites due to the devastating effects of white-nose syndrome (WNS), which is caused by the Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) fungus. The species may have declined in silence if not for a game-changing collaborative data-sharing effort that began 10 years ago: the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat). Thanks to data collected through NABat, the species is now listed as Endangered, and conservation efforts are underway. Another species, the tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) has been proposed to be listed as Endangered thanks to data collected by NABat.

“NABat is a continent-wide monitoring program established to determine the status and distribution of bats and track that across time so that we can determine which species may be in trouble and those species that are doing well,” says Susan Loeb, Ph.D., a research ecologist with the United States Forest Service (USFS), who is one of the founders of NABat.

Read Full Article

Field notes Research news from around the globe

Artist Audrya Flores created a bat sculpture out of plants.

Photo: 44 Productions

Play and Decay

A bat sculpture made of sun, soil, and spirit

By Fiona Tapp

O

n a sweltering summer afternoon in San Antonio, Texas, a bat emerged, not from a cave, but from cactus pads, milkweed seed pods, and agave leaves. Suspended in space and story, it was not built to last. It was meant to live, shift, and return to the land.

This winged form is the latest creation from Audrya Flores, a Tejana artist, educator, and mother whose work lives at the intersection of ecology and emotion. She created her most recent installation, a large lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) sculpture composed entirely of plant materials, in San Antonio’s Confluence Park this summer. It is a meditation on impermanence, transformation, and our connection to nature.

Read Full Article

field notes

Leonard Francis with representatives from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and other special guests at an exhibit launch event

Leonard Francis, CEO of NEPA (middle), joins representatives from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and other special guests at the launch.

Photo: NEPA

Guardians of the Night

Immersive bat education exhibit is now open in Jamaica

By Jill Robbins

While beautiful beaches, warm sunshine, and the shimmering rhythm of a steel drum might be most people’s first thoughts about Jamaica, this Caribbean island nation is also a place to learn about bats.

A new exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Jamaica in Kingston, “Guardians of the Night,” showcases the collaboration between Bat Conservation International (BCI), Jamaica’s National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), and the Institute of Jamaica.

Read Full Article

field notes

Livingstone’s fruit bat being held by a pair of hands

Livingstone’s fruit bat work in the Union of the Comoros

Photo: Isabella Mandl, Ph.D.

Hope in the Comoros

International collaboration key to Livingstone’s fruit bat status change from Critically Endangered to Endangered

By Fiona Tapp

High on a misty slope on the island of Anjouan, the rustle of fig leaves signals movement, followed by the slow unfolding of wings nearly 5 feet across. The Livingstone’s fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii), one of the world’s rarest flying foxes, takes to the air.

It lives in a remote part of the world off the eastern coast of Africa between Madagascar and Mozambique where a small chain of four volcanic islands makes up the Comoros Islands. The northern three islands, including Anjouan, comprise the Union of the Comoros, and it’s here, in this lush and rugged landscape, that the bat’s fragile future is being shaped. For decades, this species hovered on the edge of extinction. Now, there is a cautious reason for hope.

Read Full Article

field notes

Photograph of a large group of approximately 40 to 50 diverse people who are gathered for a group picture outdoors in front of a stone building with large windows; Many people are standing in the back, while a smaller group is kneeling or crouching in the front; One woman in the center is holding a framed document; All these individuals pictured here happen to be BCI and partners gathered together to focus on protecting agave for bats

BCI and partners gather together to focus on protecting agave for bats.

Photo: Isai Dominguez

Protecting Bats in Mexico

Two events celebrate significant progress for Mexican bat conservation

By Stefanie Waldek

One standout initiative of Bat Conservation International (BCI) is its binational work that includes projects in the U.S. and Mexico. Recently, two major events marked critical milestones for BCI’s work in Mexico: The third Northeast Mexico Agave Restoration Network (NMARN) meeting held in Monterrey, Mexico, and a formal certification ceremony for a bat roosting site in Chihuahua.

Together, these two events showcase BCI’s multifaceted conservation strategy in Mexico. From restoring agave corridors to protecting critical roosting sites, BCI’s success is rooted in collaboration between governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), scientists, and most importantly, the communities that call these landscapes home.

Read Full Article

field notes

Bats of Costa Rica

This Central American nation is home to 120+ bat species—here are a few of them

Photos by Jennifer Barros, Ph.D., and Melquisedec Gamba-Rios, Ph.D.

C

osta Rica is well-known for its incredible biodiversity, and the Central American country is home to more than 120 bat species. Some Costa Rican bats roost in caves, while others utilize vegetation to roost. For example, Spix’s disc-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) roosts in partially rolled up leaves. BCI’s Regional Director for Latin American and the Caribbean Melquisedec Gamba-Rios, Ph.D., and Brazil Program Manager Jennifer Barros, Ph.D., share some of their incredible photos of Costa Rican bats.

Read Full Article

Bat Chat A Conversation with a noted expert

From Academia to Advocacy

Emily Hutcheson, BCI’s 2025 EarthShare Green Leaders fellow, investigates community partnerships in San Antonio

By Stefanie Waldek

I

n 2025, EarthShare Texas selected Bat Conservation International (BCI) to join this year’s EarthShare Green Leaders Fellowship cohort, which connects emerging environmental leaders with nonprofit organizations.

Through the program, funded by Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B, BCI welcomed Emily Hutcheson to the team. Hutcheson saw the Green Leaders fellowship as the perfect fit during a pivotal moment in her career.

Read Full Article

A woman with her hair in a ponytail and a backpack on is holding a camera with a large lens. She is wearing a black tank top and a watch. She is standing outdoors in a forest and appears to be taking a photo of something out of frame to the right.

Rachel Harper takes photos of BCI’s field team trekking through the Jamaican jungle near St. Clair Cave.

Photo: MGambaRios

Behind the Social Scene

BCI’s award-winning social media focuses on bat charisma and conservation impact

By Lindsay Lee Wallace

“I

like to think of it like I’m fishing, and the bait is always a cute bat,” says Rachel Harper, Bat Conservation International’s (BCI’s) Digital Marketing Manager, and the force behind BCI’s social media accounts. “Once I’ve got you following, we’re going to dig into the good stuff; we’re going to get into some of the weird stuff.”

In 2025, BCI ranked No. 1 on RivalIQ’s list of the Top Nonprofits on Social Media for the second year in a row. Check out BCI’s social media:

Instagram: @BatConservationInternational
Facebook: @BatCon
TikTok: @BatConservation

What exactly is the good and weird stuff? The social media posts showcase everything from BCI’s global work to preserve bat habitats and foster community engagement, to photos and videos depicting some of the less overtly photogenic—but no less lovable—bat species. A scroll through BCI’s Instagram photo grid reveals a stunning side angle of the Brazilian funnel-eared bat (Natalus macrourus) next to a post celebrating BCI Student Scholar Amra Vuçitërna’s work studying the impacts of wind farms on bats in Kosovo. Alongside these posts is a cheeky update featuring a Hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) entreating scrollers to “Honk if you’re Hoary.”

Read Full Article

Learn More

Thanks for reading our latest issue!

Return to Cover