JERSEY Zoo’s bats are to leave the Island as their 800m2 tunnel would need a “seven-figure” refurb to be usable.
Earlier this year, at least ten bats died of a bacterial infection, pasteurella. The 80-strong colony has been living away from their main enclosure, split into four groups, for six months.
In a video released by Durrell, curator of mammals Ben Matthews said the Zoo had now made “the incredibly difficult decision to find our colony of bats new homes”.
The colony is likely to be split into smaller groups in a search for new homes that could take months, although the organisation has said it is open to having a new colony in the future – “if and when the opportunity arises in the future”.
Mr Matthews added: “Our focus is always on ensuring the very best welfare of the animals. And as we reach six months of the bats being in temporary accommodation, we are now being proactive.
“Finding new homes for these precious bats will take many months, and that is why we’ve made this decision now — to give us plenty of time to seek other suitable holders.”
He said a review of the bat enclosure found the site needed “significant investment” and had suffered storm damage.
“We now know that the estimated costs for rebuilding the bat tunnel would be at least seven figures,” he said.
The bats were a popular exhibit at the Zoo, featuring an 800sq-m tunnel and it played an important part in conserving the world’s rarest fruit bat, Livingstone’s fruit bat.
An outbreak of pasteurella, which can cause serious disease in a range of animals, swept through Durrell’s Livingstone’s fruit bat colony, the largest of its kind in Europe. The organisation created a new vaccine as a result of the outbreak.
Mammal keeper Nicola Shaw, who works with the bats daily, said she was “incredibly sad to see our bats go”.
“I care for them all deeply, but I know it is the right decision for them,” she said.
