Knowledge Nugget | Bats in India and their conservation status

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Key takeaways:

1. The report underlined that the data deficit and neglect of bats is of concern as they play a crucial role in pollinating plants, disperse fruit seeds, control pests that damage crops, and provide soil nutrition through their droppings.

2. Out of 135 bat species, 16 are endemic (about 12 percent of the total bat) or only found in India and seven of them are listed under the threatened category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

3. The report found that the lack of data doesn’t give the real picture of the status of the bat species. There are 35 species on which either have not been assessed or data is deficient on them.

4. For instance, the Khasian Leaf-nosed bat which is under threat due to persecution-fuelled hunting, mining in Meghalaya, is not classified as per IUCN, which prepares the conservation status list.

5. The report documented significant inter-variability in the distribution of bat species. West Bengal leads with 68 bat species, followed by 66 in Meghalaya, 52 in Uttarakhand 41 each in Kerala and Karnataka and 43 in Sikkim, denoting diversity.

Blyth’s horseshoe bat. (Photo: Nithin Divakar)

6. Among cities, Delhi had 15 bat species, despite pressures of urbanisation. Haryana, Punjab had only five recorded species with limited forest cover and farm expansion.

7. The assessment found bats roosting across natural habitats and man-made structures. Caves and trees were two of the most common roosting sites. The winged mammals roost in caves due to their stable microclimate and as they provide them protection from environmental fluctuations and predators.

8. Robber’s cave in Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra, houses perhaps the largest known roost of Phillip’s long-fingered bat with an estimated 1 lakh individuals during the breeding season. Among man-made structures, bats have been found to roost in crevices of dilapidated buildings, wooden beams to even government-protected monuments.

9. Several threatened and endemic species are also known to roost almost exclusively in caves. The critically endangered Hipposideros hypophyllus (classification per the IUCN Red List) is known from only one cave at the base of a granite hill in Kolar district, Karnataka.

Most studies on the ecology and biology of bats was concentrated in southern states, including Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. In picture: An Indian Flying Fox. (Photo: Nithin Divakar)

About bats:

1. Bats are the world’s smallest mammals. According to the Bat Conservation Trust, Bats can be as large as a small dog or as small as a bumblebee.

2. The largest bats are the flying foxes, with wingspans of up to 2 metres and a body weight of 1.5 kilograms.  At the other end of the scale is the bumblebee bat, weighing only 2 grams, making them the world’s smallest mammal.

3. Most microbats use echolocation, a highly refined form of biological sonar, to navigate. They emit high-frequency ultrasonic calls (often between 20–200 kHz) using their larynx and emit them either through the mouth or nose. These pulses bounce off objects, producing echoes that their brains instantly decode to map their surroundings.

4. Bats are not blind. Their vision, like their hearing, varies from species to species. Visual cues like the movement of fluttering wings can help orient hunting bats, while light cues help bats know when to leave the roost for the night, as per the Bat Conservation Trust.

5. Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Bats are mostly seen hanging upside down. The wings don’t produce enough lift to help them take off from a dead stop, and the hind legs, too, are so small that they can’t run to build up the necessary take-off speed. Hanging is more advantageous for them to take off when needed.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Bats and associated diseases

1. Bats perform key ecological functions by providing ecosystem services such as pollination, seed dispersal, pest control. At the same time, some bat species are also known reservoirs for zoonotic pathogens, such as Hendra virus, Nipah virus (NiV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)- like coronaviruses (CoVs) among others.

2. Evidence suggests bats evolved nearly 52-50 million years ago, coinciding with a significant rise in global temperature and zoonotic viruses, like henipaviruses such as Nipah and Hendra virus and lyssaviruses responsible for rabies. This suggests a very long history of host-virus co-speciation.

3. Ecological traits of bats, such as seasonal or partial migration, mixed-species roosting, large colony sizes, and unusually long lifespans for small mammals, facilitate viral maintenance and transmission within and between populations. Transplacental transmission of viruses in bats leads to acquired virus in offspring.

4. Nipah Virus: It is a viral infection that mainly affects animals such as bats, pigs, dogs, and horses but can jump to humans who come in contact with the infected animals and cause a serious disease. The transmission can happen due to “consumption of raw date palm sap or fruit that has been contaminated with saliva or urine from infected bats.  The fruit bats of genus Pteropus are identified to be the main reservoir of the Nipah virus causing annual outbreaks in Malaysia, Bangladesh and other countries in South-East Asia including India.

5. Marburg Virus: Bats are recognised reservoirs of Filoviruses that are a group of RNA viruses that include Marburgvirus. Marburg virus disease (MVD), earlier known as Marburg haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal hemorrhagic fever, according to the WHO.Rousettus fruit-bats are considered the natural hosts for Marburg virus.

6. Coronaviruses: They are among the most diverse groups of viruses, found in both mammals and birds. These viruses cause respiratory illnesses and are primarily transmitted through respiratory droplets and contaminated surfaces. It is part of a family of viruses found in some horseshoe bats (a type of insect-eating bats), mostly found in tropical or subtropical areas.

Post Read Question

Consider the following statements:

1. Kolar Leaf-nosed Bat is listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List.

2. West Bengal has the highest number of bat species as per the SoIbats, 2024-25.

3. The highest number of bat species is endemic to the Gangetic plains.

Which of the statements mentioned above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1,2, and 3

(Sources: First-ever bat conservation assessment flags threat to species, data dark spots, What makes bats important reservoirs of zoonotic viruses like Nipah, State of India’s Bats report)

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