Estimated Read Time: 7 minutes
The Sky Grizzly
The grizzly bear is misunderstood; so too are bats – and just like the grizzly bear, the bat is a keystone species that affects every aspect of every ecosystem it calls home.
Image courtesy of Cory Olson
Okay, so bats have a bit of a bad reputation these days. There’s that whole idea that normalcy as we knew it disappeared thanks to the bat.
But hold on: there’s more to that story – more to the bat story – that should make you think twice about the only mammal in the world who has mastered flying.
Let’s start with the role of bats in the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Bats are a bit of an enigma. You see, they’re tiny and, by rights, they shouldn’t live all that long.
But they do.
Image courtesy of Cory Olson
Bats can live close to 40-years-old in the wild and scientists now know it’s because the mechanism that causes humans to age is different in bats. It’s not quite the fountain of youth, but it’s not far from it either.
Why do bats not age like basically every other mammal on Earth? Well, some believe it’s because bats require more energy than any other mammal – after all, flying ain’t easy.
To compensate for the energy they require for self-propelled flight, a process that should damage their bodies, some scientists believe bats have evolved their genes to essentially act like their younger, better selves, wreaking less havoc on their system.
What does this have to do with the coronavirus?
We already know most animals are breeding grounds for disease and that those diseases can harm humans. And the reason why these specimens of youthful health, bats, might be especially good hosts for disease is actually because their immune system is so strong, so fast and so advanced, it forces viruses to also evolve to be stronger and faster to keep up.
Though it’s not for certain, it is extremely likely that the coronavirus began with a bat.
Here’s the rub:
A bat almost certainly didn’t transmit COVID-19 to humans. They transmitted it to another species – as animals do interact with other animals as part of the food chain – and that animal (yet unknown, so we can’t scapegoat it yet) gave it to us.
Here’s the
other thing:
Though we don’t have the exact details on the animal-to-human COVID transmission, it appears likely it’s a byproduct of the walls coming down between nature and human society. The more we develop nature (palm oil and soy bean plantations, along with cattle grazing, replacing forest habitat are the major examples), the more we force nature to adapt and wildlife to move. And those adaptations can have consequences.
But we are a species who likes to cast blame and so, for the horrible year that was 2020, we’ve nominated bats to carry our blame can. Easier than looking in the mirror!
That blame game hasn’t just led to fake news; it’s led to vigilantism in numerous countries – with the ill-informed killing bats and burning down their habitat.
And that’s a very big problem. Here’s why:
Despite our love of making stuff up – like all bats carry rabies (less than one half of one percent carry the disease) or they’re Dracula (three of 1400 bat species consume blood and they only consume it from animals; none of those species are found in North America) – bats and humans have long coexisted. In fact, not only have bats proven to be one of the most willing mammals on Earth to share space with us, they’ve also been willing to lend a hand to make our lives better.
They are guardians of invaluable manuscripts at an historical library. They are responsible for ensuring we have deliciousness in our lives, like bananas and mangos. They even make it possible to make Tequila (it’s this thing you’ll learn about when you’re older…and then maybe curse bats for making it a thing…anyway…)!
Oh, and there’s this: that thing they do, swooping through the air at 100 kilometers per hour? It’s to eat insects. Like lots and lots of insects.
How many?
Bats eat half their bodyweight – at least – every night and a recent study suggests they contribute upwards of $50 billion – that’s billion with a b – per year in pest control alone. That also means they’re killing the insects responsible for giving us other really bad diseases, like malaria and the Zika virus.
(And look, that whole thing about bats getting in your hair? Another one of those rumours we humans started. Bats actually use this skill called echolocation where they basically play ultrasonic tennis, bouncing sound balls off their surroundings to help them know where you are, where an insect is… It’s like sonar. Well, actually, it is sonar. Learning about bats helped us learn how to navigate submarines. Which, obviously, is exactly how bats hoped we’d repurpose that gift. Anyway.)
But bats do more than eat bugs; they’re also up there with bees in terms of their pollination skills and are top-notch fertilizers (guano!) and seed planters. And they teach us things. The little brown myotis, one of Mount Robson and Canada’s more commonly seen bat species, engages in homosexual mating – upwards of 35% of passive mating is, in fact, homosexual. Which is the kind of thing that might be important for some people to know, you know?
Anyway, bats do it all and it’s why they shouldn’t be thought of as rats with wings, but as grizzly bears of the sky. They are regulators of every ecosystem they call home, and help our entire planet function.
And when we
kill them?
Not so great.
Aside from all of those free services they provide – and the bananas, and the disease control thing – without them, entire ecosystems teeter and, according to the United Nations Environment Program, about 75% of the latest, hottest infectious diseases in humans are the by-product of ecosystem collapse, possibly brought on by the disappearance of bats.
And we might have to get along without bats if we don’t start appreciating them more.
Fully one third of all bat species are either threatened or we don’t know enough about them to know what’s going on. In Canada, our 13 species have issues – really big issue. Like the white-nose syndrome.
What’s that?
They’ll say thanks with every bite of a banana you take and with the Zika virus you don’t get. 