A migration of any species of animal (or fish or insect) always attracts attention of nature lovers and animal experts from across the globe. Tanzania’s Great Wildebeest Migration comes to mind, as well as the annual Sardine Run that occurs along the coast of South Africa. But the largest migration of all mammals is often overlooked or just not known…
One of Africa’s best-kept secrets is that during mid November to early December every year 8 million straw-coloured fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) take to the trees to roost in 2 1/2 acres (one hectare) of the Kasanka National Park’s Mushitu Swamp Forest (known locally as mushito). This is the greatest concentration of mammalian biomass ever recorded.
Bats start arriving from as early as late October, attracted to the area by the wild fruits that are in season at the time. Some of the bats’ favorites are wild loquat (Uapaca kirkiana), water berry (Syzigium cordatum) and red milkwood (Mimusops zeyheri). Straw-coloured fruit bats are easily identified identifiable by their pale, yellowish fur and orange neck. With a wingspan of just under 1 meter it makes it the largest bat in Southern Africa. Also known as flying foxes they have similar looking features to dogs but with large eyes and small ears.
Fruit bats often space themselves about a wingspread apart while roosting, but when in Kasanka they squeeze into densely packed huddles. Their roosting behavior is so distinctive that from a distance they look like swarms of honeybees, their densely packed brown bodies hanging from branches and trunks which often break under the sheer weight of bats! The whole colony of bats have a combined mass of about 1000 fully grown African Elephant!
Daily life is not easy for the bats as many predators including raptors turn to a diet of bats for the two months that the colony is in residence. Fish eagles, martial eagles, vultures and numerous other raptors have been seen to take the bats in flight and from the roost. When bats are injured they provide an easy meal for crocodiles, monitor lizards, black mambas, pythons, civet cats and the occasional leopard.
And best of all this migration happens over Zambia’s Emerald Season when prices are lowest! To find our more details about a Kasanka Bat Safari, contact an Africa Travel Expert for assistance.
Images by © Mark Carwardine for ARKive