The Ma Toc Pagoda of Vietnam was built almost 450 years ago in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam. It’s also called the Bat Pagoda because thousands of flying foxes roost in the trees of its scenic grounds. But high school teacher Ly Quoc Dang worries that “the number of bats decreases day after day because the hunters greatly outnumber the monks.” He asked Bat Conservation International to help him do something about it. ...more

Researchers have found a clue in the devastating die-off of bats that has struck the Northeastern United States, the Los Angeles Times reports. They have identified the fungus that gave the mysterious malady its name: White-nose Syndrome. But bat experts are not yet sure “whether the fungus is the cause of the widespread deaths or is simply an opportunistic microorganism infecting animals that have already been weakened” by some other, still-unidentified threat, the newspaper said. ...more

Time is running out to apply for a 2009 BCI Student Research Scholarship. The deadline for submitting applications is December 15, 2008, so don’t delay. Apply online at www.batcon.org/scholarships.

Bat Conservation International’s scholarship program has been supporting conservation-relevant student research projects throughout the United States and around the world since 1990. We have helped more than 250 students conduct important research in 54 countries. ...more