Monthly Archives: December 2011

VIDEO: Orphaned short-tailed fruit bat enjoys rocking himself back and forth after his mealtime

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Here’s an adorable video of an orphaned short-tailed fruit bat, affectionately named Lil’ Drac, that’s being hand-raised at the Bat World Sanctuary:

Why was Lil’ Drac abandoned by his mother?

Lil’ Drac is an orphaned short tailed fruit bat (Carollia perspicillata). His mother was yet another casualty from zoo closures which are occurring across the US. Sheis a young mother who was stressed from the conditions in which she was kept, combined with the additional trauma of being captured and transferred to a new and unfamiliar environment. Consequently, she abandoned Lil’ Drac after he was born. He was found on the padded floor of the indoor flight enclosure at Bat World Sanctuary, curled up in a little ball.

You can keep up with Lil’ Drac’s progress here, and you can sponsor a bat in need here.

Hat tip to Kevin.

REDISCOVERED SPECIES: Camera trap captures image of endangered Persian leopard in Afghanistan

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Image via the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Afghanistan Program

The Persian leopard (Panthera pardus ciscaucasica) was “long thought to have disappeared from” Afghanistan. However, a camera trap captured an image of one cat, which suggests that a breeding population may still occur in parts of the war-torn country. More via National Geographic:

The newly released photographs, taken in the fall, include this September shot of an adult leopard investigating the camera, “appearing to threaten it with canines exposed,” according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which helped set up the camera traps. The images are “indisputable proof” that the big cat is hanging on in the region, the group said.

Via io9