Myth, superstition, and zoonotic diseases such COVID-19 and the Nipah virus infection, have created a negative impression of bats. The fallout is that these nocturnal, flying mammals are losing their habitat and their numbers are falling.
On a clear-the-air campaign for bats, a team from Kerala is on a mission to train the next generation of bat researchers and to create awareness about the species’ diversity and ecosystem functions.
The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment and the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi, Thrissur, have recently organised training programmes on bat taxonomy, acoustics and biogeography.
