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Save the Mauritus fruit bats!
Your Price: $25.00
at Bat Conservation & Gifts
Save the Mauritus fruit bats!
The Mauritian government has begun killing thousands of these beautiful bats. With your help, we can stop the killing. To donate more than $25 please adjust the Qty. Thank you!
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Mauritius Fruit Bats Need Your Help! On the island of Mauritius (in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Madagascar), lives a large beautiful fruit bat. The Mauritius Fruit Bat once thrived throughout the Mascarene archipelago, but now only resides on the island of Mauritius. The decline was primarily due to habitat destruction and sport hunting. The species was given the IUCN conservation status of "Vulnerable" and since seen a rise in population. Due to increased pressure from commercial fruit growers on the island, the government of Mauritius has started to reduce the population by slowing killing these bats by shotgun. Letters from international conservation organizations and the IUCN have not managed to halt the cull, which began several weeks ago. Fruit bats are widely regarded as keystone species in tropical forest ecosystems. They are important seed dispersers and/or pollinators of hundreds of plants. Fruit bats also play an essential role in the maintenance and regeneration of tropical forests. Unfortunately, fruit bats are still largely misunderstood. For this reason, impacts upon fruit crops need to be evaluated and exclusion or control measures carefully considered since the bats are extremely vulnerable to extinction. The Mauritian government has developed an international reputation for its conservation of another fruit bat on the Island of Rodrigues. The recovery of the Rodrigues Fruit Bat is the classic case of a fruit bat conservation and recovery program. Rodrigues fruit bat populations have been estimated recently at nearly 4,000, up from around 70 in the 1970's. It now seems ironic that the Government of Mauritius that has spent three decades showing the rest of the world the way forward with its work on the conservation of endangered species is now culling one of its most important endemic species. By quickly forming a coalition - the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, the Philadelphia Zoo, Lubee Bat Conservancy, the AZA bat TAG, and Organization for Bat Conservation are working to raise emergency funds to support studies to better understand the status of the bats and the true nature of this problem. Through scientific studies of crop predation, bat population counts, and a broad education campaign, we hope to be able to provide the information to support a stop to the culling for the 2007 season. You can help by pledging a donation. In recognition of your donation you will receive a certificate of Mauritius Fruit Bat Sponsorship, 8x10 color photograph of this beautiful bat, natural history information, updates on our protection progress, and the piece of mind that you helped an animal in need. Thank you,Rob Mies and Kim WilliamsOrganization for Bat Conservation Founders
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