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November 2012
Micro in size but mighty in ability
30 November 2012
The Sunday Mail
By KATHLEEN DONAGHEY
WEIGHING less than two grams, this bald wrinkly microbat is not about to save Gotham City.
But it may be a hero of the animal underworld, with its ability to blend with the shadows and catch insects mid-flight.
A colony of 18 Little broad-nosed bats were taken to Australia Zoo’s Wildlife Hospital on Wednesday after becoming homeless.
Vet Amber Gillett said they had been living in a hollow log on the Sunshine Coast which was either felled or had fallen over.
The five furry adults and 13 hairless babies together weighing only 36.5g were admitted for a check-up. Each was weighed on a miniature set of scales.
One baby was so new it was still attached to an umbilical cord and weighed barely a gram.
"They’re all going to be taken to a carer because they will all have to be fed (using the tip of a catheter)," Dr Gillett said.
"Some of the babies are not attaching to the mums."
30 November 2012
By KATHLEEN DONAGHEY
WEIGHING less than two grams, this bald wrinkly microbat is not about to save Gotham City.
But it may be a hero of the animal underworld, with its ability to blend with the shadows and catch insects mid-flight.
A colony of 18 Little broad-nosed bats were taken to Australia Zoo’s Wildlife Hospital on Wednesday after becoming homeless.
Vet Amber Gillett said they had been living in a hollow log on the Sunshine Coast which was either felled or had fallen over.
The five furry adults and 13 hairless babies together weighing only 36.5g were admitted for a check-up. Each was weighed on a miniature set of scales.
One baby was so new it was still attached to an umbilical cord and weighed barely a gram.
"They’re all going to be taken to a carer because they will all have to be fed (using the tip of a catheter)," Dr Gillett said.
"Some of the babies are not attaching to the mums."
