Batsies | Texas Wildlife

Follow along as Texas wildlife biologists Dr. Sara Weaver and Dr. Sarah Fritts share their passion for bats and emphasize the importance of protecting these essential organisms. In this video, the biologists highlight their research surrounding bat fatalities and wind turbines, stressing the challenges of finding an effective solution. This learning resource is perfect for introducing students to science careers and wildlife research.

As our planet’s only flying mammal, bats are incredible animals, yet they are often misunderstood. Bats across the globe play important roles in ecosystems, including seed dispersal, pollination, and insect control.

Bats have lived on Earth for more than 50 million years. There are over 1,400 different species of bats worldwide. Bats live on every continent except Antarctica. More than 30 different species of bats live in Texas and the state is home to Bracken Cave Preserve, the world’s largest bat colony!

Despite this historical success, bat populations face multiple challenges today such as the impacts of climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, a disease called white-nose syndrome, and wind turbines.

The Batsies video and the accompanying learning resources guide you to explore bats through the eyes of two female wildlife biologists as they research new ways to protect bat populations.

NOTE: The closed captions and Support Materials are also available in Spanish.