Safari Park staff go batty for bats

Staff at West Midland Safari Park are hosting a special conservation week, dedicated to raising awareness and funds for bats.

Protect Bats Week will run from 6-14 May and staff, with help from the Worcestershire Bat Group, aim to inform guests about the amazing world of bats, including what species can be found in Britain. All the funds raised during the week will go to the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT).

A variety of activities will take place during the week, both at the Park and online. Guests can take part in a free quiz, meet the Park’s Rodrigues fruit bats and Seba’s short-tailed bats in special bat talks at 2pm and 4pm, take part in a craft club with bat-related crafts and games and enter some competitions to win a VIP tour or some bat-themed prizes.

Additionally, the Park is hosting some very special VIP Myth Busting Experiences, where guests of all ages can meet some commonly misunderstood creatures up close, including reptiles, small mammals and insects. They can also help prepare some fruit kebabs for the bats, then watch them feast on them during their feeding time.

Discovery Trail Keeper, Lucy Smith, said, 'The Discovery Trail keepers have chosen to support the Bat Conservation Trust for our conservation week, so we will be putting all of our efforts into raising funds and awareness for the cause. Globally, around 20% of all bat species are currently threatened with extinction, although you don't need to travel around the world to find them, as we have 17 species breeding within the UK alone! The decline in population numbers within the UK stems from building development and habitat loss'.

West Midland Safari Park is hosting a Protect Bats Week from 6-14 May, raising money for the Bat Conservation Trust.

'As keepers and bat lovers we think that more needs to be done to protect our flying friends and by supporting the BCT, we will be helping to fund training programmes to assist in the monitoring and surveying of bats around the country. At the Park, we will be aiming to educate and inspire people and hopefully shed some light on many of the myths surrounding these mysterious animals. At the end of the week some of the more batty members of staff and myself will be doing a bungee jump on the 13 and 14 of May, in an effort to raise even more funds for the worthy cause. Wish us luck!' 

For all of the Park’s conservation weeks, local artist Zaza Shelley, will be producing some amazing limited edition prints of the Park’s animals, including the bats. Proceeds from sales of the bat prints will also go towards the Bat Conservation Trust. Prints are available to purchase from the conservation section on Zaza’s website: www.zazashelley.com

In honour of Protect Bats Week the Park is also hosting a public talk on 19 May at 7:30pm, given by Lucy and Matthew Terry, chair of Worcestershire Bat Group. Refreshments will be included and after the talk, there will be the chance to join the Bat Group in the grounds of the Park, as they search for native bats and pick up their calls. 

There will be a special talk at the Park on 19 May from a bat keeper and the chair of the Worcestershire Bat Group.

The Bat Conservation Trust is the leading NGO solely devoted to bat conservation and the landscapes on which they rely. Funds from Protect Bat Week will be going towards the volunteer training programme, who work to care for bats, monitor populations, create bat-friendly gardens and educate the public. Find out more on their website: www.bats.org.uk.

Stephan Brohan will also be raising funds for BCT on behalf of the Worcestershire Bat group, by taking part in a volunteer bungee jump, which has been organized by the West Midlands Safari Park. If you would like to donate then please follow THIS LINK to be directed to his JustGiving page and give him a little boost!

The bats can be seen in West Midland Safari Park’s Discovery Trail and Protect Bats Week is included in the standard admission charge. To book the VIP Myth Buster Experience, email details to learning@wmsp.co.uk. To book a place on the talk, email research@wmsp.co.uk.

Further information and tickets are available from the Park’s website www.wmsp.co.uk or by telephone 01299 402114. You can find out more on the Safari Park’s official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/WestMidSafari.

#Makeitgreen Campaign

The Perfect Pollinator

Todays society is becoming more and more aware of the importance of a sustainable environment but there is still so much more we can do to help create a world where humans and nature can not only survive, but thrive.

The #makeitgreen initiative is supported by the well-known Charity Bug Life. Bug Life and Scotscape have together formulated the ‘Perfect Pollinator’ living wall which can be easily applied to any surface full of pollinating life giving plants. The Perfect Pollinator living wall offers a fast and flexible way to incorporate greenery in otherwise tricky locations in a pattern suitable for Bee migration, and bat habitats. Careful planning will increase the value of your garden or green space to bats, bees and other wildlife, however small it is.

#Makeitgreen has been created to raise awareness of the importance of greening up our cities and urban areas, to benefit air quality, health, biodiversity, pollinators and improve city living.

#Makeitgreen encourages participants to plant a seed, a plant, even a tree, record it, post it and challenge friends and colleagues to do the same! Who knows where this could lead? Could we see flowers bursting into colour in unused urban wasteland? Trees popping up in gardens? A competitive greening up of our doorways, balconies, front gardens, offices, and urban thoroughfares?

Our mission is simple – green up our cities in whichever way possible, vertically with living walls, horizontally on roofs with green roofs, create rain gardens, plant up troughs and planters, manage landscapes sustainably and incorporate pollinator friendly plants! 

The perfect example of a living wall

It is crucial to raise awareness of the importance of pollinators and the fact that urbanisation is wiping them out. At The Bat Conservation Trust we understand the need to encourage pollinator friendly gardens and green areas, as bats need a huge number of insects, a garden that is good for insects is good for bats. Making our urban landscape a friendlier place for bats and pollinators to thrive is beneficial on a much more fundamental level. In the UK, some bats are ‘indicator species’, because changes to these bat populations can indicate changes in aspects of biodiversity. Bats might suffer when there are problems with insect populations or when habitats are destroyed or poorly managed.

A brown long-eared bat enjoying dinner

To help you to #makeitgreen visit the www.scotscape.net to claim your free packet of perfect pollinator seeds to include in your garden or office landscape and help the bees and bats! 

To learn more about how you can support Bug Life’s Activities and how #makeitgreen can help pollinators – visit www.scotscape.net or www.buglife.org.uk.

If you would like to find out more about the importance of bats on the environment please visit - http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/why_bats_matter.html