“There are few places in the world where [bats] are more popular than the southwestern U.S. city of Austin, Texas, home of the world's largest urban bat colony,” the Voice of America declared.

“In many parts of the world,” the story noted, “bats rank with snakes, spiders, scorpions and other (animals) regarded as ‘creepy’ or even dangerous.” But, said reporter Greg Flakus, research shows bats are hardly dangerous...more

Only three flat-headed myotis had ever been reported (one each in 1950, ’66 and ’70). The tiny, elusive bat, known to scientists as Myotis planiceps, weighed about 2.5 grams (about as much as two peanuts) and had a distinctively flat forehead and a known range of just 385 square miles of northeastern Mexico. IUCN, the World Conservation Union, declared it extinct in 1996...more

Bat Conservation International is now accepting applications for its 2007 BCI Student Research Scholarships. Grants of $2,500 to $5,000 each will be awarded to support research that is directly related to bat conservation. Proposed projects should be focused on the roles bats play in providing ecosystem services (such as pollination, seed dispersal, pest control or...more