Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week! The world of bats had a pretty good one.

I have some very exciting news. Mr. Rob Laidlaw has finished writing his book on bats. Bat Citizens:  Defending the Ninjas of the Night has already been released in Canada and will be on the shelves in the US next month! It is amazing and I’m sure you’ll all love it! The book is all about bats, the challenges they face, and how people are helping them. I am happy to report that page 29 of the book is particularly wonderful. That page is all about ME! There are a lot of interesting facts in the book, so I hope you will all read it when you get a chance. Thank you, Mr. Laidlaw for including my story in your book!

And now for some more good news. I am happy to report that the Lesser Long-Nosed bat is finally off of the Endangered Species List! This beautiful bat has been on the list since 1988 and is the first bat to be removed from list due to recovery. These bats are important because they are important pollinators and seed dispersers of the Sonoran Desert saguaro cactus and of the agave plant. The fact that they pollinate the agave plant is important to the tequila producers of Mexico because tequila is made from this plant.

When they were first placed on the list, there were fewer than 1,000 Lesser Long-Nosed Bats living in only 14 known colonies. Now there are approximately 200,000 of them living in 75 roosts! That is incredible news and it is all thanks to hard work by biologists and researchers in the United States and Mexico. The US Fish and Wildlife Service partnered with Mexico to work with state, federal and Tribal entities, non-governmental organizations, citizen scientists in Pima County, Arizona, and tequila producers in Mexico.

Citizen scientists in Arizona have been watching the bats at night as they drink from hummingbird feeders. These sightings helped biologists understand the bats better. One of the major parts of the bats’ recovery was keeping humans out of their roost sights. Bat gates have been installed to allow bats access to the roost sights but keep humans out. Another important part to their recovery was done by the Mexican tequila producers. They began to cultivate their agave in a way that allowed the plants to be pollinated naturally by bats rather than cloning their plants. In this way, they produce “bat friendly tequila” which not only helps their crops but saved the lives of the bats.

If you would like to read more about this important milestone for the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat, you can find information here.

I hope you all have a good week.