Hanging up bat decorations for Halloween is great holiday fun but at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we also want to keep real bats hanging around. Bats play a critical role in nature, helping to control pests and pollinate countless plants, including delicious fruits like bananas and mangoes.
On Halloween, we’re celebrating Bat Day with special activities at Rafiki’s Planet Watch where guests will discover that bats are cool, not creepy. Guests can enter a “bat cave” and test their skills at identifying North American bats. Fun games help guests learn what bats eat and what challenges they face. Guests also can meet our bat keepers and find out how we care for the bats that make their home on the Maharajah Jungle Trek at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They might even see one of our bats getting its wellness exam in the Veterinary Hospital.
 |
 |
Did you know?
- The Malayan Flying Fox, which guests can see on the Maharajah Jungle Trek, is one of the largest bats in the world with a wingspan of close to 6 feet. Another bat species at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the Rodrigues fruit bat.
- Contrary to popular myths, bats are not blind and do not become entangled in human hair.
- For 2013, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF) is supporting Bat Conservation International projects that are helping to protect long-nosed bats in the Caribbean, golden-capped fruit bats in the Philippines and straw-colored bats in Africa. This year, the DWCF also is supporting a Lubee Bat Conservancy project that is helping flying foxes in Madagascar.
Comments
Thanks for the great post on bats, and great work by the DWCF! @Patricia, most bat species feed on fruits or bugs not folks! They play a key role in controlling pest populations in many places in the world.
I guess I don’t know a lot about bats. I didn’t know they had them all over the place. I thought I heard on TV that they only lived in jungles. I don’t know if I like bats or not because I don’t know much about them. I am leaning towards not liking them, though, because I hear they bite people sometimes.
i am always fascinated by the bats when we visit Animal Kingdom. i love watching them move and / or just hang there. it is an awesome thing to watch them move and eat or just reposition themselves. it’s one of my favorite things to witness when i can make it out to FL.
I love bats, and enjoy visiting the bats on the Maharajah Jungle Trek at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Glad to see Disney supporting Bat Conservation International.
Comments are closed.