Table of Contents
WHY BATS ARE ENTERING INTO DIMENSIONS COVERED
• Human-caused factors like habitat loss and climate change trigger outbreaks
such as the recent Nipah cases in Kerala.
•According to a report by the World Health Organization, there is “strong evidence”
that the emergence of bat-related viral infections can be attributed to the loss of the animal’s
natural habitats.
•As the flying fox [fruit bat] habitat is destroyed by human activity, the bats get stressed and
hungry, their immune system gets weaker, their virus load goes up and a lot of virus spills
out in their urine and saliva.
•There are studies on Hendra and Nipah viruses that hint at reproductive and
nutritional stress [fewer food resources] as potential role players in virus spillover.
•In the case of the Hendra virus — the Nipah equivalent in Australia — scientists found that
when fruit bats are stressed (through habitat fragmentation, habitat reduction and
physiological stress), the percentage of bats infected with the virus increases drastically,
increasing the likelihood of passing it to humans through horses.
•Nutritional stress through the loss of food resources — a direct consequence of habitat
loss and climate change — brings bats closer to urban areas.
• According to a study in Malaysia, rapid urbanization of bat-rich rain forests
contributed to the emergence of Nipah virus there: the regions most adversely affected
were those that suffered from maximum deforestation.
• Forest fragmentation and hunting bats for food also bring them closer to
humans and is often an important cause of disease transmission.
•Conservationists worry that the recent Nipah outbreak could cause a knee-jerk reaction of
calls for bat culling.
•Culling bat populations may seem like an easy solution — and has been tried in
Australia — but studies warn that instead of reducing the outbreak of such zoonotic
diseases, it could cause even more damage, chiefly ecological.
•feed on fruit and nectar and are crucial pollinators (of fruit trees, including mango, guava and
banana), helping maintain genetic diversity in agricultural systems. They are also important seed disperses; other bat species help bring rodent and insect numbers under control.
Ques. Habitat loss and Habitat fragmentation will not only impact the wildlife but will also effect human life.
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