Bats are a crucial component of a healthy ecosystem ... and now they have a powerful ally in the fight against extinction: Batman himself. Along with his co-stars in the upcoming film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, actor Ben Affleck is teaming up with the Organization for Bat Conservation (OBC) to build desperately needed hutches for bats threatened by habitat loss, climate change and disease.
"I think we all just take for granted that there are bats, and [think] bats are going to be fine. But when we start to look at the research, we see that bats really are in dire straits," explains the film's director Zac Snyder. "As a movie that benefits from the bats, we thought we'd build these habitats to raise awareness."
OBC urges not just celebs, but everyone to build a backyard 'bat cave', as each simple wooden hutch provides enough space for 100 big brown bats to raise their young. Providing enough safe real estate for bats to breed is crucial in the fight against white nose syndrome, a disease that has killed nearly six million bats in North America alone.
To learn more about the project, including how to build a home for the bats near you, head on over to OBC's hutch hub! You can also follow the campaign on Twitter using the hashtag #savethebats.
Top header image: Ann Froschauer/USFWS, Flickr
Animal Behaviour
Human Impact
Animal Behaviour
