Bent-winged bat colony restored in New Taipei City

2015/07/13

A colony of over 200,000 bent-winged bats is seeing steady revival in Ruifang District, New Taipei City, testament to the success of local habitat conservation efforts.

Situated along Taiwan’s North Coastal Highway, the Ruifang bat cave reputedly boasts the largest such colony in Taiwan, as well as East Asia. The mammals are attracted by the mountainous region’s dense vegetation and abundance of insects.

But Bai Zhen-zong, a local cultural guide, said the bat numbers have decreased significantly in recent years as a result of human activity and large-scale infrastructure development.

“First reports of bats roosting here dated back to the 1970s,” he said, adding that the colony all but emptied out and experienced nine years of inactivity after the opening of a local highway in 1978.

The bats began returning home around 2001, with their numbers peaking in 2005 at 500,000, according to a survey by the Bat Association of Taiwan. Yet the colony’s health deteriorated again just one year later following a series of natural disasters and further construction.

“Work on the nearby Yuanshantze Flood Diversion Tunnel escalated habitat fragmentation,” Bai said. “There is no question this detrimentally impacted the health of the colony.”

Bai believes that the animal’s latest comeback is due to private-public conservation and noise management efforts. “The population hit current levels in 2014 and there is every indication we will see a further increase this year,” he added.

“Like migratory birds, bent-winged bats winter in warmer locales such as Nantou in central Taiwan and return north for breeding. With the support of the central and local governments, as well as the public, there is no reason why these magnificent creatures should not return to Ruifang every spring.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=232435&ctNode=413)