Despite their vital role in the balance of ecosystems and economic activities such as agriculture, bats are little known and valued; and it is known that what is not valued is not protected.
A series of negative perceptions weigh on these animals, which endanger their existence, since people tend to eliminate them just out of unfounded fear.
The organization Bat Conservation Internationalfounded in 1982 to address the decline of some of its species, warns that our planet would not be the same without these nocturnal flying mammals.
The organization is behind the creation of the Bat Appreciation Day commemorated every April 17 to promote the appreciation of the ecological functions of this group – the bats – and raise awareness among the population about its relevance.
In the world there are about 1,500 species of bats, a number that varies constantly, since new descriptions are added every year, details the academic from the Department of Zoology of the Faculty of Natural and Oceanographic Sciences, Fulgencio Lisón Gil.
“Bats are the second most diversified group of mammals; Almost 25% of the mammals on the entire planet are bats.. The only group that surpasses it in number of species are rodents,” adds the specialist in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, leader of the laboratory in this area (WEC LAB, for its acronym in English).
These animals are present in a wide variety of ecosystems across all continents, except Antarctica. In Chile, there are 14 species, a fairly small number compared to neighboring countries such as Argentina or Peru, says the academic, pointing out that, in addition, they are not widely distributed in the territory.
“There are very few species, but many are endemic; That is, they are typical or typical only of Chile, as is the case of the Myotis Atacamensis (northern mouse-eared bat) or the Myotis chiloensis (southern mouse-eared bat).”
The researcher says that it is not clear why Chile has a low diversity of bats, but it is a fact that forces us to take care of these animals even more, which, he adds, are of great importance at a global level “because they fulfill many ecosystem functions.” and, therefore, they provide many ecosystem services.”
One of them is their role as pollinators, whose relevance can be understood with an emblematic example. “The agave used to make tequila and mezcal depends exclusively on bats for pollination. If the bats were not there, the entire industry that is associated with that plant would be lost,” explains Dr. Lisón.
There are species that contribute to seed dispersal, while insectivorous species – the majority – contribute to the biological control of insects, some of which are harmful to crops, such as moths or some types of beetles.
The academic has carried out research in this area and points out that the use of bats in the biological control of insects in the case of blueberry crops represents a saving of close to 65 dollars per hectare per year in terms of pesticides.
“We also saw that when bats are more active, there are fewer insects and plants produce more. We have similar studies in vineyards,” he says.
Insect-eating bats are also vector drivers of dengue or yellow fever and other mosquito-borne diseases. There are hematophagous species, whose blood-based diet is the origin of the link between bats and vampires.
There are only three in the world and in Chile there is only one of them, the common vampire or Desmodus rotundus, which – as Dr. Lisón indicates – reaches the outskirts of the Metropolitan Region and obtains its food mainly from penguins and sea lions. “But it is not an animal that causes harm,” he asserts.
Virus repertoire
Chiropterans are also natural reservoirs of viruses such as rabies, Marburg, Sars, Mers, among others. According to Fulgencio Lisón, in the case of rabies, the carriers do not reach more than 10% of the individuals in a colony and it is unlikely that a bat attacks a person or a pet.
These animals that have a bad reputation are very shy and peaceful. “But if for some reason someone takes it with their bare hand or a cat tries to eat it, it defends itself and does so by biting, like any animal, like a rabid fox or a rabid dog. The normal thing is that it can transmit rabies and you have to get vaccinated,” he points out.
The call on this day is to know them and work for their protection, because they are valuable from the ecosystem point of view, their contribution to the economy and projections in areas such as medical research.
“Bats do not suffer cancer and they are very long-lived animals, so they are interesting for studies on cancer or senescence,” comments Dr. Lisón. There is also research into the saliva of blood-sucking bats in the development of anticoagulant drugs that can be used, for example, in cases of stroke.
