Baked bat banned from menu!

10 November, 2008, 13:25

It has been a favourite dish for years, but an endangered species of bat is now off the menu in a bid to save it from extinction.

It’s part of a project by UK wildlife experts to increase the numbers of the flying fox bat on the island of Pemba in the Indian Ocean.

Because of its 1.6-metre wingspan and meaty body, the bat has been eaten by humans on Pemba for years and was in danger of extinction.

But due to the intervention of Cambridge-based scientists at Fauna and Flora International, the numbers of the Pemba flying fox have risen to 22,000, achieved by raising awareness of conservation on the island.

Joy Juma, Fauna and Flora International’s East Africa assistant, said: “At one time roast bat was a very common dish on Pemba. Now people value the bats for different reasons.”

The increase in numbers has proved to be quite an achievement. Just 20 years ago there were a very few bats remaining on the island.

Gabrielle Pickard for RT