Did you know there are more than 1,400 species of bats around the world? From the tiny Kitt’s hog-nosed bat, measuring just over an inch in length, to the giant golden-crowned flying fox with its stunning six-foot wingspan, these flying mammals are as varied as they are fascinating. What’s more, bats play a particularly crucial role in the ecosystems where they live: · Bats are champions at consuming insects. Many can eat up to half their body weight in bugs every day, or more! · When you think about pollinators, you may think first of bees or butterflies, but many bats are essential pollinators, too. Many plants, like agaves, couldn’t thrive without the help of bats. · Fruit-eating bats may deposit seeds a long distance from the parent plant, helping to protect ecosystems and restore forests. · Bat poop, aka guano, is a rich and valuable fertilizer. A natural world without bats would be massively different than the world we know. Learn more about these unlikely ecosystem heroes. But despite their essential roles in the natural world, bats around the planet are threatened. Many bat habitats are being destroyed by human development, as forests are clear-cut for timber and farmland and cities encroach on their natural ecosystems. At the same time, climate change is stressing them further with unexpected weather patterns, severe drought, and extreme storms. To make matters worse, since 2006, the deadly disease called White-nose Syndrome has killed millions of bats as it spreads across North America. Affecting hibernating bats in the winter, it rouses them from their slumber, often leading them to starve to death. On top of all that, bats are among the most misunderstood of all mammals. Unjustly feared or mistakenly considered dangerous, in many parts of the world people will casually kill bats when, in fact, they urgently need our protection.  | 
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