S2E21 Chester Zoo is the most visited zoo in the UK with over 2 million visitors a year. It's also a conservation and education charity committed to preventing extinction. The fruit bat forest in the Twilight Zone exhibition is a fantastic visitor experience; Steve joins Dave White, the manager of the Twilight Zone, who explains how it's also used as an insurance population for the endangered Rodrigues fruit bat Pteropus rodricensis which is only found on the island of Rodrigues. Dr Claire Raisin the field programme coordinator for Madagascar and the Mascarenes explains how island-wide bat surveys which started in the mid-1990s are helping Chester monitor the nine main roost sites in Rodrigues. And finally we meet Helen Bradshaw the Estate Ecologist who amongst her many roles manages the native bat species roosts across the 250 hectare Estate opened in 1931 by George Mottershead.
Find out more about the project at Chester:
- Fruit Bat Forest
- Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and their Facebook Page
- Follow Dr Claire Raisin and Helen Bradshaw on twitter
- Find out more about the Nature Reserve at Chester Zoo
Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat:
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_
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For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/
Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan
Cover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/info
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