The polythene tunnel – adapted from an agricultural tunnel – has been designed with the bats and not spectators in mind.
It has ample space for the colony to exercise their flying skills and keep themselves in tip top shape.The tunnel has also been padded and had netting stretched all around the inside as large bats have a tendency to crash land.
The floor has been scooped out for extra depth for swooping bats, and for those who land on the ground there are thick ropes for clambering back to their high perches.The Zoo’s deputy head of mammals, Dominic Wormell, said: ‘Working with rare and endangered species, we are constantly learning about their needs.
We realised that unlike smaller Rodrigues fruit bats, which we also have in the Zoo, who can fly, twist and turn in relatively small enclosures, this was impossible for large bats like the Livingstone’s, who need much more space.’
