Forest Unit conducts a Bat Expedition 

On Monday 20th the Forestry Unit within the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Ministry of Education held a “BAT EXPEDITION.  A group of educators comprised of education officers, primary and secondary teachers led by forestry officers paid a visit to one of the caves found in the eastern side of Antigua.  This was at least forty-five minutes to an hour hike through one of the island’s Dry Forest.   

This part of the hike was led by Adriel Thibou, Senior Forestry Officer and Brent Simon, Forestry Ranger.  The expedition was conducted very cautiously as it was explained that the surrounding ecosystem must have minimal interference as possible.  “Strive at all costs through whatever means to do little to no harm to the ecosystems, thus leaving it as nature intended” Thibou said.  

 While inside the cavestill under the guidance of Adriel Thibou, three bats were caught and taken outside for processing that included the collection of each bat Biomatrices and fur, for the Mercury monitoring project.  Forestry TraineeJameel Ambrose, was charged with the task of guiding a small group of observers deeper into the cave. It must be emphasized the Spelunking can be extremely dangerous and should not be attempted with proper supervision.  Mrs. Camellia Tonge, Forestry Assistant, explained to the group why bats were so important, and the importance of the data collected.  “The data collected today will be entered into our database and a comparison could be made to what we have already collected.  This is done to monitor changes in the roost site and the resident population and helps to guide our management practices.  

The bat species were identified as “Natalusstramineus” or the Mexican-Antillean Funnel Eared Bats.  They are very unusual because of the colour of their furs which range from a pale yellow to an orangish gray based on the age of the mammals.  For more information on our “Chiroptera” friends please contact the Forestry Unit via 764-1272.