Project update 23: Project Pteropus wrap-up

Our Fruit Bat Fundraiser by Project Pteropus ends today – and we managed to raise RM43,790, well beyond our original target of RM30,000!!! We’re so deeply grateful to everyone who supported this initiative – those who donated funds to help us complete our research next year, those who bought merchandise to help us widen our public outreach impact this year, and those who helped spread the word. Thank you for helping us to make this fundraiser such a success.

While our public outreach initiatives also end today, the additional funds we’ve raised will allow us to extend this project for an additional 6 months into 2022 in order to complete our durian pollination research that was negatively impacted and delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. During this extended time period we’ll also be able to finish up our work on monitoring and protecting flying fox populations, which was also delayed due to the pandemic. So we’re on track to successfully complete and wrap up this project as originally planned – just on a slightly later timeline!

Take a peek into the team and our work on fruit bat conservation that you’re helping to support:

Bat Week 2020: The Secret Life of Durian Trees

As part of our Project Pteropus outreach efforts, we teamed up with insanely talented Malaysian artist Novia Shin, and Penang-based production house Hatchtag Media, to create a short animated video on bat pollination of durian: ‘The Secret Life of Durian Trees’, based on the results of Dr. Sheema‘s PhD research on Tioman Island.

This video was first released during last year’s Bat Week, but was a nominee for the Best Animation Award at the recent 13th International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (KLEFF 2020). If you haven’t seen this already, watch it to see what happens in a durian orchard at night! And, it’s also available in Malay and Mandarin!

Facebook: @novia.shin @HatchTag @KLEFFMY
Instagram: @novia_shin @kleffmy
Twitter: @KLEFFMY

Friends in Malaysia: this is your last chance to snag some bat swag by following us on social media, sharing any of our #BatWeek2020 posts with the correct 3 hashtags, and tagging at least 3 friends! We’ll start picking winners after today! Hope you all had a Happy Bat Week and will continue to help us celebrate bats long after this! 🦇🦇🦇

Bat Week 2020: Pollinating Bats of Peninsular Malaysia

Did you know that Peninsular Malaysia is home to at least 6 different bat species that are known to pollinate flowers???

A lot of people think of bats as using echolocation instead of eyesight to catch insect prey for food. However, in Malaysia we have fruit bats (Family Pteropodidae), who don’t echolocate but are equipped with large eyes and a keen sense of smell to home in on yummy fruits and nectar.

Many of our tropical plants such as durian (Durio zibethinus), petai (Parkia speciosa), wild bananas (Musa spp.), perepat (Sonneratia alba) and berembang (Sonneratia caseolaris) actually depend on fruit/nectar bats for successful pollination and fruit production!

Artistic impressions by Vietnamese artist Dao Van Hoang

Facebook: @dao.v.hoang.3
Instagram: @vanhoang_dao
Twitter: @daovanhoang

This poster will also be included in our GIVEAWAY. If you’re in Malaysia and you’ve remembered to follow us on social media, sharing this post with the correct 3 hashtags + tagging 3 friends gains you another entry!