the-awkward-turt:

strangebiology:

Thousands of Bats Slaughtered Annually in Asia End up on eBay and Etsy

If you buy those cool little mummified bats and believe that they are simply found dead or by-kill, you should know that:

• Between mid-2000 and 2013, the US imported at least 9,000 bats per year
• Conservationists focusing on bats in Indonesia call it a “virtual certainty” that these bats are not being sustainably harvested, natural deaths, or bykill
• With the taxidermy renaissance / vulture culture, I imagine that the number of bats imported has only increased
• One conservationist said 9k per year was “probably only the tip of the iceberg” because they can’t check every package that enters the US

Yes, the majority of these bats are legal, and ethical sourcing can exist – but all evidence points to Indonesian bats being intentionally hunted for meat and mummies. 

^Signal boost!!

And remember that white nose fungus is already threatening/decimating many bat species; they really need all the help they can get! Although we don’t see them doing it most of the time bats provide us a lot of ecological services like pest control and pollination.

Always do research on the source when purchasing wild animal products!