Burd takes on KNP about bat houses

Burd, a bat conservationist and director at ReWild in Phalaborwa is calling on the public and visitors to the Kruger National Park (KNP) to keep an eye out for bats and their condition when visiting the KNP. This comes after photos emerged showing bats and birds trapped and killed in wire mesh covering thatch roofs at the Lower Sabie camp. According to Burd, this is a result of a flawed and inhumane effort to keep bats out of accommodation in the KNP.

Burd, who has been working with bats for the last 15 years and did an internship at the Bat World Sanctuary in the United States, says that the KNP has had a problem with bats in the accommodation facilities for more than a decade. She says that she has been in contact with KNP’s management to assist with training to do bat exclusions free of charge but that there has been little interest in her offer. “The problem of bats in accommodation facilities and roofs is not unique to the KNP.

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Everyone in the Lowveld encounters bats in their roofs because bats like to live in roofs,” explains Burd. “It is a problem when guests and tourists find bat droppings in their accommodation. The problem has worsened over the years and is out of hand,” says Burd. She says that she gave training to stakeholders at Mopani Camp two years ago, detailing how to do bat exclusions to keep them out of the camp’s accommodation roofs but that she was surprised when it came to light that bats and birds were killed in inhumane efforts to rid accommodation facilities from bats.

In addition, Burd says, the KNP undertaken to move all bat houses at rest camps to the bush. According to Burd, moving the bat houses will not be a successful way to control the bat problem since they will be traumatised by the trap and relocation and will likely not stay in the bat house after relocation. She is also concerned that the relocation of the bat houses was done during the bat breeding season.

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“What we have is a human accommodation problem and that can be addressed by using methods used worldwide to keep bats out of roofs by doing bat exclusions,” says Burd. The KNP released a statement in April detailing their efforts to remove bat houses from rest camps. “KNP management in consultation with internal divisions such as tourism operations, scientific and conservation services have embarked on the removal of all bat houses in the KNP, starting with Lower Sabie Rest Camp which is mainly affected by bat influx.

This operation aims to minimise the number of bats that roost inside the camps. The bat houses provided alternative accommodation for bats and in most cases, the bats moved onto nearby structures when the bat houses filled up. “Over the years, Lower Sabie has experienced an unpleasant odour of bat droppings and bat noise in some of its buildings including guest accommodation, which led to visitor complaints. “Management hopes to delicately manage the situation to the satisfaction of both nature and the guests.”

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“It is a complicated matter to keep bats out of buildings as they originate from the surrounding natural bush, however, various other mechanisms will be explored after the bat house removal to deter bats from taking up residence in the tourist attraction units. Efforts will be made to carry out the operations without inconveniencing visitors to the KNP and we request cooperation whenever guests witness the undertaking of the operation,” the KNP stated. Visitors to the KNP who notice bat behaviour can contact Burd and ReWild at 082 457 7297.