Geoffrey Gomes, a bat specialist, writes a letter to the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources proposing to delist bats from the classification of "vermin" in Trinidad and Tobago's wildlife legislation. He outlines his experience working with wildlife committees and organizations. He then provides information on Trinidad and Tobago's 67 bat species, their roles in pest control of agriculture and diseases, and their importance as pollinators and seed dispersers of many tree species.

1. Apt.# 8 Lady Chancellor Apts,
St. Anns, Port of Spain, Trinidad
Home: 624-2223 / Cell: 683-6261
Ms Candace Leung Woo Gabriel
Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources
Level 26, Tower D
The Waterfront
Port of Spain
RE: Draft Wildlife Policy - Section: 1.4.3 Vermin: The Third Schedule of the Conservation of
Wildlife Act 1958 (Chapter 76:01) lists species classified vermin.
Delisting of Bats as Vermin Species in Trinidad and Tobago
My name is, Geoffrey Gomes. I have recently been appointed to the Bat Specialists Group of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): http://www.iucn.org
I am a former Zoological Council Member of the Emperor Valley Zoo’s Management Committee
(1985 - 1995), and former Trinidad and Tobago Island Representative at the Society of Caribbean
Ornithology. I have served as Ornithologist on the Cabinet appointed, Wildlife Conservation
Committee (WLCC) of Trinidad and Tobago through the last five Government administrations.
During my 2008 tenure on this Committee, I proposed to the WLCC Board, an amendment to the
Trinidad and Tobago Conservation of Wildlife Act, regarding the delisting of bats as “vermin”
species in Trinidad and Tobago wildlife legislation. This long overdue proposal to amend the
vermin status of bats was accepted by the WLCC, and it was decided that this initiative would
join the many other proposed amendments to Trinidad and Tobago Wildlife Policy that
government and various stakeholders are currently addressing.
There are 67 different species of bats recorded in Trinidad and Tobago, representing nearly 70%
of all local mammalian fauna. In 2010, I co-founded with my colleague, Daniel Hargreaves, the
bat research and conservation organization known as, Trinibats. Our website: www.trinibats.com.
We also manage a popular “Trinibats” facebook page which informs interested parties about our
work, showcasing Trinidad and Tobago’s amazingly diverse bat fauna through photographs and
educational information. The Trinibats Team conducts annual research expeditions in Trinidad,
and is currently cataloging the bats of Trinidad and Tobago.
All information and images provided herein, are the intellectual property of Trinibats, and their
associate researchers and photographers. Reproduction or distribution is strictly prohibited.
www.trinibats.com 1 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

2. Chiroptera
Many people consider bats one thing; “if you’ve seen one bat you’ve seen them all,” is a
common assumption. This, however, is far from the truth. Bats constitute 1/5 of the world’s
mammalian species; there are over 1,200 different kinds. All bats are members of the mammalian
order, Chiroptera, meaning, hand-wing. Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight. A bat’s
wing consists of skin membrane wrapped around the upper arm, forearm, wrist, and hand of the
animal. The bones of the hand and the four finger bones are greatly elongated but light and
slender, providing support and flexibility to the wing membrane in flight. The bat uses the sharp,
exposed claw of its thumb to cling to surfaces or, along with the hand-wing, to maneuver a fruit
or other food item while hanging upside down. The hand-wing for which bats are named, is the
one attribute all the world’s bats have in common.
There are two suborders of bats in the world, the Megachiroptera, and the Microchiroptera. The
flying foxes (so called because of their dog-like faces) of Africa, India, Australia, etc, are
members of the Megachiroptera. These bats, for the most part, do not echolocate. The bats of
Central / South America, and Trinidad and Tobago, are members of the Microchiroptera, a
separate and distinct suborder. We should not confuse the two suborders, because they behave
quite differently. Microchiropteran bats like ours do echolocate, and that’s why many of our bats
have strange appendages on their faces; that’s just the sonar equipment and gadgets they need for
the serious business of navigating and foraging in the dark, and not crashing into things. Our bats
are diverse, and so are their diets. A few local bat species hunt frogs, fish, rodents, and even
birds; two local species of bats drink the blood of mammals and birds, respectively. However, out
of Trinidad and Tobago’s 67 species of Microchiropteran bats, the vast majority (95%) control
insect-pests and disperse the seeds of important forest trees, including many popular (among
humans) fruit trees.
Bats are Natural Insect-Pest Control Agents
Insect-eating bats consume a minimum of half their weight in potentially harmful (i.e. to humans
and crops) insects every night. Most insect-eating bats in Trinidad and Tobago consume large
quantities of moths, beetles, flies, cicadas, stink-bugs, and leaf hoppers (Kunz et al., 2011). An
average-sized insectivorous bat at 10 - 14 grams can routinely consume hundreds of mosquito-
sized insects an hour, or at least half its body weight of insects per night. A pregnant or lactating
female can more than double that intake of insects to over 100% of her body weight to provide
for the additional energy requirements required for pregnancy and nursing. Nonetheless, even at
half its body weight, that is 5 grams of insects per night, or 1.8 kg (4 pounds) of insects per year
for a single average sized bat .When you consider that the average lifespan for a bat in the wild
can be 7 or 8 years, long lives for small mammals, we are talking about literally thousands of
metric tons of insects being checked by bats in Trinidad and Tobago annually. The Tamana Caves
www.trinibats.com 2 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

3. in Central Trinidad, for example, house huge populations recorded at some 11 species of bats,
numbering somewhere in the vicinity of 500,000 individuals, 75% of these being insectivores.
Conservatively speaking, these bats are collectively consuming a staggering 675,000 kilograms
(>300,000 lbs) of insects every year. Many of these insects include moths and beetles, the larval
stages of which (caterpillars and wood-borers) are known to be major threats to agriculture and
commercial forestry. The significant role insectivorous bats play in agricultural pest control must
be obvious, especially when these numbers are taken into consideration. Bats also feed on
cockroaches, stink-bugs and katydids, or bush crickets. Studies in the United States indicate the
value of insect-pest control services provided by a particular bat species also present in Trinidad,
the Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), to agriculture, ranges from 2 - 29% of the
crop. (Cleveland et al., 2006). Another recent study calculated that a colony of just 150 Brown
Bats (Eptesicus sp.) consumes approximately 800,000 beetles, 158,000 leaf-hoppers, and
335,000 stink-bugs per year (Kunz et al., 2011). These studies strongly suggest that bats do
indeed play a vital role in protecting crops from damage, and in reducing the costs of pesticide
use to farmers and society. The critical roles played by Trinidad and Tobago's bats in mosquito
pest-control and their subsequent impact on potentially deadly illnesses such as Yellow-Fever
and Dengue Fever, also deserves wider recognition. The islands' numerous varieties of insect–
eating bats consume so many insects; logic dictates that they must be helping to control many
insect-borne diseases, including those that affect human beings directly. Eradication and
prevention methods for these and emerging diseases are typically aimed at the vectors, thus
insectivorous bats are an inexpensive and natural means of supporting man-made pest control
efforts.
Here Are Just a Few of Trinidad and Tobago’s Many Insect-Eating Bats
DAVY’s NAKED-BACKED BAT
One of Trinidad’s many moth
specialists. The larval stage of a
moth is a caterpillar. As every
farmer and horticulturalist knows,
moth caterpillars are major pests on
commercial crops. An efficient
consumer of moths like the Davy’s
Naked-backed Bat, therefore,
should be considered a friend to all
local farmers.
www.trinibats.com 3 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

4. LITTLE MASTIFF BAT
One of our several beetle specialists. This bat
species can be seen every dawn and dusk
speedily traversing the open sky, sometimes
careening near buildings in their quest to
consume at least half their body-weight in
flying insects, usually beetles, during every
single outing. Beetle grubs are major
agricultural pests. The Mastiff Bat is one of
the bats that commonly roost under the
galvanize roofing of buildings, because trees
with natural folds and crevices in their trunks
that usually provide their shelters, are now in
very short supply.
LITTLE BIG-EARED BAT
This bat includes Bush Crickets and
Cockroaches in its diet. It operates in
stealth mode while hunting, keeping it’s
echolocation calls to a minimum. Instead
of using echolocation calls, these bats
listen for their prey. They use their short,
broad wings to fly slowly, as they employ
their oversized ears to listen for, and home
in on, the courtship calls of their insect
prey, or even the footstep sounds insects
make as they walk around on vegetation.
Researchers from the University of
Michigan found that these bats devour
more bugs than birds at organic coffee
plantations. Helping to control insects pests
like katydids and leaf eating beetles
(Williams et al., 2008).
www.trinibats.com 4 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

5. The GREATER WHITE-LINED BAT
(above) feeds on mosquito-sized insects.
This bat is often seen flying up and down
forest paths hunting small flying insects
during the daylight hours.
Spix’s Disk-winged Bats use the moistened pads at the bases of their wrists and toes, to adhere
to the inside walls of the tube-like, unfurled leaves of heliconia (seen here) and banana trees.
These little bats eat at least half their weight in mosquito-sized insects every night in Trinidad.
www.trinibats.com 5 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

6. Bats Need A Place to Rest and Reproduce
Important seed-
dispersers and
pollinators, these
Geoffroy’s Hairy-
legged Bats
include fruit,
nectar, and insects
in their diets. This
group is roosting
in a cave ceiling.
Caves provide
good homes for
some bat species
Most bat species
in T&T, however,
roost among the
foliage of forests
and gardens, not
in caves. This
family of Great
Fruit-eating
Bats (left), with
females suckling
grey-coloured
pups, are roosting
under a coconut
palm. These bats
are very
important seed
dispersers for a
huge variety of
fruit trees in both
islands.
www.trinibats.com 6 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

7. Some foliage roosting species
fashion “tents” by biting the
midrib of leaves, forcing the
sides to fold into a tent-like
shelter where the bats can
spend the daylight hours
resting. This Gervais’s Fruit-
eating Bat (above) has bitten
the mid-rib of a leaf to form a
“tent” where it roosts. This bat
disperses the seeds of Figuier,
and other canopy fig trees that
are very important food
sources for other local wildlife.
This bat and its relatives disperse the seeds of the important forest regenerating tree, Cecropia, or
Bois Canot, and many more tree species.
Even though they are usually associated with caves,
most bat species in Trinidad and Tobago do not roost
in caves. The vast majority of species need tree-
hollows like this one (left) in a large Silk Cotton Tree
to offer them sanctuary. Whole colonies of bats have
been wiped out on private land in Trinidad and
Tobago over the last 60 years, legally, according to
their vermin status. Large hollow trees, caves, foliage,
and other roosts filled with hundreds or thousands of
helpful bats have been imprudently destroyed by
poison, fire, and other diabolical means on private
land in T&T many times over the years, usually
through an irrational fear of “vampires,” or some
other ill-advised notion. Invariably, these private
estates and land holdings lie adjunct to State and
other lands that naturally benefit from the consistent
nightly “seed rain” deposited by fruit bats, especially
so on tracks of disturbed lands in desperate need of
reforestation. With lifespans averaging about 8 years,
bats are relatively long lived compared to other small
mammals, and a single fruit bat can pollinate the
flowers and plant the seeds of hundreds, if not
thousands of trees in its lifetime.
www.trinibats.com 7 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

8. Fruit and Nectar feeding bats
Pollination
It is imperative to a tree that it avoids
fertilizing itself, so nectar-feeding bats like this
Greater Long-tongued Bat photographed at a
hummingbird feeder in Tobago, partner with
many species of forest trees to ensure viable
pollination of their flowers. Trees can’t walk so
many “hire” bats to transport pollen from the
(male) flower anthers to the (female) flower
stigmas of other trees of the same species. The
night-shift equivalents of hummingbirds,
nectar bats insert long tongues (seen here) into
flowers to collect payment (nectar) for the
pollination services they provide.
When bats visit a flowering tree for
nectar, they usually get covered with
pollen. As this bat (left) searches the
flower cluster of a Silk Cotton Tree in
northwest Trinidad for nectar, its face,
wings, and belly get painted bright
yellow with the tree’s pollen, which
the bat will then deliver to the female
flower parts of another Silk Cotton
Tree that is flowering at the same
time. Bats also pollinate Bois Flot,
Calabash, Locust, Royal Palm,
Cashew, Wild Chataigne, Pois Doux,
Yellow Pois, Yellow Mangue, and
many more trees in Trinidad and
Tobago.
www.trinibats.com 8 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

9. Bats Are Important Seed Dispersers
Bats plant thousands of seeds annually in Trinidad and Tobago. If you like to see trees carpeting
the hillsides, then bats are working for you! Nearly all of the trees that bats pollinate and plant
produce fruits that humans use; the fruit trees they plant also feed fruit-eating birds (eco-tourism
benefits), agouti, lappe, quenk, deer (hunters benefit), monkeys, and other wildlife. Here are just
a few of the trees bats regularly plant all over T&T: Wild Tobacco, Pomerac, Hog Plum, Carat
Palm, Royal Palm, Balata, Fustic, Chenet, Serrett, Figuier, Acoma, Kiskidee, Seaside Almond,
Seaside Grape, Guava, Jamaican Plum, Sugar Apple, Star Apple, Paw Paw, Sapodilla, Sacred
Fig, Sour Sop, Wild Cashima, L’Epinet, Angelin, Bois Bande, Sapucaia Nut, Mammee Sapote,
Tonka bean, Mango, Peewa, and many more trees.
A Great Fruit-eating
Bat (Artibeus lituratus)
flies off with a forest fig
(Ficus spp.). Unlike
birds which tend to be
perching, or stationary
foragers, fruit bats are
mobile foragers that
defecate or drop seeds in
flight far away from
parent trees. This is very
helpful to the parent tree
and sapling alike,
making bats some of the
m o s t e ff i c i e n t s e e d
dispersers of all local
animals, and crucially
important to the entire
forest regeneration
process. Trinidad and Tobago wildlife legislation can no longer simply allow private land owners
to destroy entire colonies of fruit bats, or their many insect-eating cousins, simply because
people do not understand the important functions these very helpful animals perform every night.
Even more sobering should be the fact that local species of bats usually produce only a single
pup per season, with only one, sometimes two seasons per year, and are thus, extremely
vulnerable to population crashes due to the misguided actions of human beings who do not know
the crucial roles bats play in the ecology of all forest habitats in Trinidad and Tobago.
www.trinibats.com 9 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

10. This ripe Figuier fruit (fig)
dropped by a bat clearly shows
its tooth impressions. Some bats
swallow small seeds as they eat
hanging fruit, and defecate them
in flight away from the parent
tree. Other bats fly with whole
fruits to another tree-roost
location where they eat it in
safety, once again, dropping the
seeds far away from the parent
tree when they’ve finished
eating. Sometimes bats drop
seeds by mistake, as did the one
carrying this Figuier fruit, before
eating it. Either way, the tree
sprouts up far away from its parent, which gives the emerging sapling a better chance to
germinate and grow.
Different kinds of bats play diverse roles in the ecology of tropical forests, each genus of fruit-
eating or nectar-sipping bat being important to different groups of plants. The Seba's Short-
tailed Fruit Bat (see below) is a vital disperser for pioneer and early successional plant species,
but not necessarily to more mature forest trees. For example, Seba's Short-tailed Fruit Bats
(genus, Carollia) do not tend to include figs (pictured here) in their diets, and hence are not an
important factor in the dispersal ecology of this species-rich group of canopy trees. In contrast,
however, some of the Seba’s Short-tailed Fruit Bat’s most common leaf-nosed relatives, bats of
the genus Artibeus, which includes 3 species in Trinidad, do indeed eat figs, and disperse their
seeds widely (Fleming, 1987). These fig-eating bats are, therefore, very important contributors to
the dispersal ecology of this species-rich group of canopy trees collectively referred to by
biologists as, figs. It is important for all Trinidadians and Tobagonians to realize how many local
birds, game animals, and other fruit-eaters relish figs because it is one of the few fruit groups that
are available in various stages of ripeness throughout the year in local forests. A list of animals
known to feed on figs in Trinidad and Tobago would include many species, and experienced
tropical birders are well aware of the attractive forces a fruiting fig tree exerts on the avifauna. A
wealth of small fruit-eating birds, most of them brightly coloured, and of particular importance to
the ecotourism industry, are drawn to these fruiting trees like magnets. Troops of monkeys, larger
birds like pawi, corn birds, Ramier, etc., knock considerable quantities on the ground where less
agile creatures like agouti, lappe, quenk, etc. also eat them (Forsyth and Miyata, 1984). Between
10 - 15 species of local fruit bats are also known to disperse the seeds of figs in Trinidad and
Tobago, including the Macconnell’s Bats featured on the following page. All of these bats are
helping to feed other wildlife when they disperse the seeds of fig trees.
www.trinibats.com 10 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

11. The Macconnell's Bat
A family of Macconnell's Bats (Mesophylla macconnelli) snuggle inside a "tent" fashioned from
an Anthurium leaf in the Bush Bush Sanctuary in southeast Trinidad. Efficient seed dispersers
and pollinators, these bats include figs, and other fruit, pollen, and nectar in their diets.
www.trinibats.com 11 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

12. Seba's Short-tailed Fruit Bat
The most common fruit bat in Trinidad and Tobago is a major seed disperser for many important
fruit trees. As described above, this bat is a champion at reforesting disturbed areas. It is also one
of the most common bats to take up residence in the ceilings and attics of abandoned or occupied
houses, churches, schools, and other buildings, sometimes making life difficult for human
beings. Small populations don’t do much harm really, but large populations can be a problem.
There are several procedures and devices that our regional colleagues have been applying
successfully over the last few years that the Trinibats Conservation Team www.trinibats.com is
interested to introduce locally. These include educational programs in urban and rural
communities, focusing on bat-proofing procedures for new and renovated buildings. For
situations where buildings are already occupied by bats, and aside from the strategic sealing of
potential access points, we would advise the installation of bat-exclusion devices (BEDs), which
are designed and constructed specifically for the particular situation, that allow the bats safe
passage out of the building at night, but prevent their ability to re-enter the area. Following, or in
tandem with evictions of this kind, artificial “bat houses” are installed at the top of tall poles high
off the ground and away from buildings; these ‘bat houses” give the bats somewhere else to go.
The bats are not simply evicted then, but also provided an appropriate place to roost, and still go
about their business of eating insects and planting trees during the night without making
nuisances of themselves. A win win for all involved, except the insects.
At left (below), a Seba’s Short-tailed Fruit Bat chews fruit as it flies away to widely scatter the
seeds of a guava tree in a Trinidad forest. At right, a female Seba’s suckles her pup at her breast.
www.trinibats.com 12 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

13. Some more interesting local bats
A strobe-lit Greater
Fishing Bat is
photographed
capturing a fish with
its clawed feet,
transferring it to its
mouth, then flying off
to a night roost to eat
it in safety. Greater
Fishing Bats also hunt
insects in the forest at
night.
Greater Fishing Bats
are indigenous to both
Trinidad and Tobago
The hole at the base of this termite nest at left (below) has been carved by a male Pygmy
Round-eared Bat to provide a shelter for his family. You can see the family group peeping out
of the hole in the image at right. Pygmy Round-eared Bats eat grasshoppers, bush-crickets,
cockroaches, and other insects. Photographed in the Bush Bush Sanctuary, SE Trinidad.
www.trinibats.com 13 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

14. Fruit Bats and Fruit Farmers:
The so-called “fruit-orchard pest” accusations commonly leveled at local fruit bats are simply not
accurate. Local species of fruit bats find fruit by smell not by vision, and only ripe fruits emit a scent; no
serious fruit farmer is going to leave his commercial harvest to ripen on a tree when it would by then be
far too late to bring to market. Much of the negative reflex responses of fruit farmers to fruit bats are
based on misinformation and superstition. Many people also confuse the behaviour of local fruit bats with
that of Old World fruit bats, commonly known as “flying foxes.” The flying foxes of Africa, India,
Australia, etc., do not echolocate and are visually oriented animals; their behaviour is, therefore, very
different to that of the fruit bats from Trinidad and Tobago that generally localize fruit by using their
sense of smell. The wildlife conservation laws of Trinidad and Tobago must no longer be guided by
misinformation and misunderstandings that have nothing to do with how local bats behave. The ecology
of both islands suffers when bat conservation is ignored.
Bats Are Not Disease Carrying Pests:
Records of bat disease transmission in Trinidad and Tobago are rare, with perhaps one exception,
paralytic rabies. The implication of vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) in rabies virus transmission is well
documented in Trinidad, but not Tobago as this island is vampire bat free. The Anti-Rabies Unit of the
Ministry of Food Production functions to keep this disease under control by culling of the vampire bat
population, an activity which has been conducted since the 1930’s. However, since then the rabies virus
positivity rates for this species has declined from roughly 3% to less than 1% (Seetahal, Veterinary
Diagnostic Laboratory. personal communication, 2013). Nevertheless, due to the association between the
vampire bat and rabies, unfortunately all bats have been stigmatized as deadly disease carriers and
vermin.
On the other hand, ironically, recent evidence suggests that vampire culling actually has the opposite
undesired effect of increasing the prevalence of the rabies virus in the affected colonies (Streicker et al;
2012). Additionally, it is well noted that one of the major factors that account for zoonotic disease
(disease transmissible from animal to human) transmission is the encroachment of humans into forested
areas with disruption of animal habitats and animal displacement forcing increased animal to human
contact.
The “House Bats” Problem:
As stated previously, the biggest problem bats pose in Trinidad and Tobago is their propensity for roosting
inside people’s homes, or in churches, schools, and other buildings. Small colonies of bats living under a
galvanize roof really do not pose a problem, but bats living inside ceilings, or people’s living quarters
should not be tolerated. They don’t belong there; bats should have their own roosts. The solution to these
problems lies in education, and proper building and repair practices. There are methods of “house bat”
eviction, including the installing of devices to ensure their continued exclusion that our colleagues in the
region have been using successfully for the last few years. Further, following all evictions from buildings,
artificial bat houses are installed high off the ground so the bats have somewhere else to go. The Trinibats
team is interested to introduce these procedures and devices to Trinidad and Tobago; however, it is
difficult to source funding for bat conservation projects such as these when the laws of the land still
designate bats as vermin. The vermin status bats have suffered under for the last 60 years has done
nothing to alleviate the “house bat” problem in T&T. The Trinibats Team, suggests another approach; one
that works for human communities, for the bats, and for the health of our forest habitats and wildlife.
www.trinibats.com 14 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

15. Bats maintain healthy forest habitats
“For this alone, they deserve protection”
Bats consume the infructescence of Cecropia, or Bois Canot, digest pulp derived from the
enlarged, fleshy perianth, and defecate the fruits. Passage through the bat’s gut removes the
perianth and all or part of the mucilaginous (sticky) layer surrounding the fruit of Cecropia,
thereby reducing the adhesion of fruits with one another. Thus, because bats defecate in flight,
the fruits from a single defecation are spread over an extended area of forest floor. Therefore, bat
dispersal of Cecropia provides efficient dissemination into large gaps and primary forest. Though
bat dispersal is not necessary for seed germination, the process of passing through the bat’s gut
increases seed survival and subsequent germination. Fruit structure plays a significant role in
seed longevity, and seeds build up over time in a ‘seed bank’ on the forest floor.
This photograph (above) illustrates how fruit bats repair a patch of damaged forest. Undisturbed
Seasonal Evergreen Forest in northeast Trinidad, can be seen behind the orange blossoming
Immortelles. In front of the Immortelles (Erythrina sp.) from left to right can be seen the area
that had been cleared only months before of mature forest similar to the unbroken jungle behind
the flowering Immortelles. All of the trees in the foreground, in front of the Immortelles, are
pioneer species (Bois Canot or Cecropia), that have sprouted from seeds deposited by fruit bats.
The other tall tree in front of the Immortelle at left is also a pioneer species (Bois Flot or Balsa),
with seeds dispersed by the wind, but with flowers that are pollinated by bats in search of nectar.
www.trinibats.com 15 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

16. Fruit bats and Reforestation
One of the most important ecological roles played by Cecropia, or Bois Canot, is as pioneer
plants in disturbed areas. An individual Cecropia can yield fruits for 4–5 months, and some
species of the genus produce seeds capable of germinating after 4 or 5 years of dormancy; this is
the significance of the nightly “seed-rain” delivered by fruit bats. As a result of this productivity,
seeds of Cecropia are often the most common in soil seed banks in both primary and secondary
forests; in some cases, constituting 50% of the soil seed bank in some areas. Because of the
abundance of seeds in the soil, as well as the rapid dispersal of them by fruit bats into newly
disturbed areas, regeneration of forests in gaps is facilitated by species of Cecropia, Bois Canot,
throughout most of Trinidad and Tobago.
Crucially, the trees of Cecropia often produce the first shade and litter which enables later
successional species to germinate and establish seedlings in disturbed areas. Although Cecropia
species have little economic value, they appear to play an essential role in initial stages of plant
succession after disturbance; Cecropia, or Bois Canot, often provide the microhabitat needed for
the growth of economically important food and timber trees, thus regenerating important canopy
species like Crappo, Cedar, Cypre, Guatecare, etc. Some of the local bats known to disperse
Cecropia, or Bois Canot, in T&T, are Artibeus jamaicensis, Carollia perspicillata, and
Platyrrhinus helleri. Other larger bats play an important role in moving the diaspores of
secondary forest species into primary forest and in transporting the larger seeds of primary forest
into secondary forest. The Great Fruit-eating Bat, Artibeus lituratus, for example (described
above), consumes the seeds of secondary forest species, as well as the fruits of the primary forest
species. The seeds of these species are relatively large, but this bat is capable of transporting
fruits and seeds almost as large as it is.
Cecropia, or Bois Canot, have evolved features that allow them to remain dormant in the soil
seed bank until conditions become favorable for seed germination. These features make it
possible for species of Cecropia to play an essential role in forest regeneration after disturbance.
The occurrence of stands of bat-dispersed Cecropia in many large and small gaps throughout the
Neotropics reflects the fruit adaptations of this ecologically successful pioneer species (Lobova
et al., 2003). Moreover, since bats disperse more seeds than birds (primarily to disturbed areas
and consisting primarily of pioneer species), they are likely to play an important role in
successional and restoration processes among habitats as structurally and vegetationally different
as, old fields, cacao plantations, and forest (Medellin and Gaona, 1999)
www.trinibats.com 16 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

17. Conclusion - Bats Need Protection
95% of Trinidad and Tobago’s bats are important natural pest-control agents, and highly effective
pollinators and seed dispersers. Many insectivores consume between 50% - 125 % of their body-
weight in insects every night. These insects include many types of moths, the larval stages of
which (caterpillars) are great agricultural pests. Insects taken include huge amounts of beetles,
the larval stages of which are wood-borers and similarly destructive pests to agriculture and
forestry. Many bats also consume huge quantities of bush crickets, flying termites and ants
(rainflies), cockroaches, bush bugs, and mosquitoes. And, as everybody knows, mosquitoes are
potential carriers of diseases that can be deadly to human beings.
Many of Trinidad & Tobago's bats are fruit-eaters, responsible for more seed dispersal in tropical
forest systems than birds, or any other animal agents for that matter. Their unique lifestyle
involving defecation in flight while commuting between their feeding grounds and day roosts,
places bats among the most effective long distance dispersers of tropical seeds. The most
common fruit bat in Trinidad is Seba’s Short-tailed Fruit Bat (Carollia perspicillata). A single
Seba’s Short-tailed Fruit Bat can disperse as many as 60,000 fruit seeds in one night, with each
square meter of forest floor receiving between 12 and 80 seeds annually (Fleming, 1988). Bats
play diverse roles in the ecology of Trinidad and Tobago’s forests, and each genus of fruit or
nectar feeding bat is important to different groups of plants. Studies conducted in Trinidad and
elsewhere indicate that frugivorous bats play an extremely important role in the regeneration of
forests in disturbed habitats, and help to maintain plant species richness in tropical forests
(Fleming, 1988). Nectivorous and frugivorous bats also play important roles in the pollination of
many important flowering trees and shrubs in Trinidad and Tobago's forests.
Yet, these highly efficient insect-controllers, seed-dispersers, and flower-pollinators, enjoy little
or no protection in these islands. Worse, according to the Trinidad and Tobago Conservation of
Wild life Act of 1958 (Chapter 76:01), all bats are categorized as “vermin.” Creatures designated
vermin can be legally destroyed on private land, whether they are individuals or entire colonies.
For all bats to be considered vermin in this day and age is to ignore all evidence to the contrary
regarding their ecology and behavior as has been uncovered over the last half century. Moreover,
since fruit-eating bats together with insectivorous bats (i.e. 95% of T&T bats) are now fully
protected in most countries of the world, this law is clearly out of step with current international
norms in this regard. Further, while T&T laws still list bats as vermin, the fact that bats are now
fully protected by the Wildlife Protection Act, administered by the Natural Resources
Conservation Authority of Jamaica, should be enough to elicit a review of our current legislation.
Herein, we hope to have made a convincing case for the removal of bats from the list of vermin
species in the new wildlife legislation being considered for Trinidad and Tobago. Vampire bat
population controls should remain the purview of NADC. Private land owners should report bat
roost concerns for confirmation of vampires, not be legally entitled to destroy helpful bat species.
Geoffrey Gomes Daniel Hargreaves
Trinibats Co-founder Trinibats Co-founder
IUCN - Bat Specialist IUCN Bat Red List Authority
www.trinibats.com 17 Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad

18. Bibliography
Dalling, James W., and Thomas A. Brown. "Long-Term Persistence of Pioneer Species in
Tropical Rain Forest Soil Seed Banks." The American Naturalist 173.4 (2009): 531-535.
Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Fleming, Theodore H. Fruit Bats: Prime Movers of Tropical Seeds. Bats. Volume 5, No. 3 Fall
1987
Fleming, Theodore H. The short-tailed fruit bat: a study in plant-animal interactions. University
of Chicago Press, 1988.
Forsyth, Adrian. and Miyata, Kenneth. Tropical nature / Adrian Forsyth and Kenneth Miyata ;
illustrations by Sarah Landry Scribner, New York : 1984
Kunz, Thomas H., et al. "Ecosystem services provided by bats." Annals of the New York
Academy of Sciences 1223.1 (2011): 1-38.
Lobova, Tatyana A., et al. "Cecropia as a food resource for bats in French Guiana and the
significance of fruit structure in seed dispersal and longevity." American Journal of Botany 90.3
(2003): 388-403.
Medellin, R. A. and Gaona, O. (1999), Seed Dispersal by Bats and Birds in Forest and Disturbed
Habitats of Chiapas, Mexico. Biotropica, 31: 478–485. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.1999.tb00390.x
Streicker et al; (2012) ecological and antrhropogenic drivers of rabies exposure in vampire bats:
implications for transmission and control. Proc. R. Soc. B published online 13 June 2012.
Williams-Guillen, K., I. Perfecto & J. Vandermeer. 2008. Bats limit insects in a neotropical
agroforestry system. Science320:70.
www.trinibats.com Helping to conserve the bats of Trinidad