Today is International Bat Night, which means it's time to admire an incredible and rare spectacle: the migration of millions of bats in Africa.
Bat migration
On the last full weekend of August, the world celebrates one of the most unusual conservation holidays: International Bat Night. Its main goal is to draw public attention to the problems of bats and their conservation, and to debunk myths surrounding these animals, which many people unjustifiably fear, believing them to be vampires.
Bat migration
British photographer Will Burrard-Lucas has been passionate about photographing animals for many years. While traveling in Zambia, he captured a rare natural phenomenon—a bat migration. Around eight million bats were soaring through the skies.
Few people know that bats can migrate like birds. That's why people are often alarmed when they see such a sight in the sky.
Bat migration
Bats are mammals. During the warm season, bats feed on insects.
Bat migrationBat migration With the onset of cold weather, some bats hibernate. They choose cool but warm places to spend the winter, such as caves. The rest head south, where they can still feast on insects in winter.Bat migration The hypothesis that bats are capable of migrating south was suggested after it was discovered that some bat species native to America and Europe were absent from their wintering grounds in caves, despite being abundant in the same area during the summer.Bat migration Bats migrate several times during their lives.Bat migration Will Burrard Lucas captured millions of bats circling over a Zambian national park.Bat migration There are about seven hundred known species of bats in the world.Bat migration In addition to insects, the diet of large bats includes lizards, frogs and small birds.Bat migration In an hour of hunting, a bat can catch about two hundred insects.Bat migration Bats navigate by emitting ultrasonic signals and detecting their echoes reflected from objects. This phenomenon is called echolocation. Before its discovery, bats were believed to possess extrasensory abilities.Bat migration Bats can detect wire mesh from seventeen meters away.Bat migration The sounds made by bats cannot be detected by the human ear.Bat migration While in flight, mice produce a rather complex sequence of sounds that other animals are simply not capable of.Bat migration Fish-eating mice are unable to detect prey underwater. However, they will immediately detect it as soon as even a small part of the fish's body appears above the water's surface.Bat migration A picturesque and unforgettable spectacle is the migration of bats.