“Decent Batman Seeks Apartment”
The Charity Fund to Support the Kyiv Zoo came up with an idea of a funny event in which the Podil Secondary School No. 2 eagerly took part. While bird fans were painstakingly making traditional houses for starlings, the said school was working on nestling boxes for bats. On April 23 and 24 the so-called Batman houses were solemnly nailed down in the zoo grove.
“The chorister (bats belong to this class) need as much care from people as birds coming back after their winter migration,” explains Kyrylo Trantin, manager at the Marketing and Advertising Department of the Kyiv Zoo. “First, they are no less useful than the latter: one bat exterminates per day an amount of vermin equal to its own weight. Besides, these fighters of pests successfully supplement each other: while birds are sleeping, bats take the night shift. Meanwhile, mankind repays the chiroptera with base ingratitude: many peoples believe them bloodsuckers, associate them with the powers of evil or spirits of the dead, or, at the least, are afraid of them. In fact, some of them are nectar feeders, not to mention the fact that some species of this supposedly terrifying animal need protection themselves: for instance, most of the 25 species inhabiting Ukraine are in the Red Book. Often bats have problems with where to stay: old buildings with their bays and attics are being demolished, and the new ones have no such places; many caves where bat colonies reside are actively explored by tourists. The poor things also suffer from constant temperature drops in winter: bats break their winter hibernation period prematurely. They have even created a bat refuge at the Kyiv Zoo. Throughout the winter they received bats which had accidentally flown into Kyiv apartments or were picked up by Kyivans.”
The goal of the zoo’s action is primarily to enlighten the young. Incidentally, all international organizations working with environment protection recommend as a priority children’s direct interaction with animals. There are even grants to support actions to enlighten. In Kyiv they became possible due to creating the fund mentioned above. During the last year approximately eighteen actions with various quizzes, contests, and (thanks to the sponsors) prizes, were held. Philanthropists as well as Kyiv schools also take animals under their patronage. Of course, the zoo wards are not starving, in any case. On the contrary, the zoo is developing, new modern open-air cages are being constructed, and new animals are purchased in exchange or as gifts (first option is preferred, the more so that the collection allows exchanges). Among recently arriving animals were Australian ibises, toco toucans, Japanese cranes, Indian flying foxes (incidentally, they are the largest representatives of the bats family), and antelopes. However, the effect of such patronage can hardly be overestimated, Mr. Trantin noted: the children learn how to build their relationships with animals the right way.
