"We recently received a phone call from a member of the public saying that they saw a bat die and fell on the side of the road, worried about whether it would spread the virus?" On February 4, the relevant person in charge of the Shenzhen Wildlife Conservation Department and wildlife experts said in an interview with the Crystal News reporter that 9 types of bats such as dog bats, Mid-chrysanthemum bats, and Phylloscopic bats are more common in Shenzhen, and citizens should rationally look at bats without panicking, and the correct approach is to avoid direct contact with bats and not to kill bats at will.
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▲ Dog bat photographed in Shenzhen Li Cheng / photo
See a dead bat on the way? Don't be afraid, just do it
"Recently, we received two phone calls from citizens reporting the discovery of dead bats in downtown Shenzhen, once in Luohu and once in Mangrove Park. The street and disease control departments all arrived at the scene in time to carry out pollution-free treatment and on-site disinfection. ”
The relevant person in charge of the Shenzhen Wildlife Conservation Department told the Crystal News reporter that bats also have normal life and death, so citizens do not have to be afraid when encountering dead bats, but what needs attention is to avoid direct contact and timely notify relevant departments such as disease control for treatment and disinfection. If you find abnormal or dead wildlife, please contact the wildlife protection department in time.
9 types of bats are more common in Shenzhen, and citizens should treat them rationally
The person in charge told the Crystal News reporter that according to a survey of wildlife resources done by the department in 2013-2016, there are many species of wild bats living in Shenzhen, and there are 9 common types, including: dog bats, chinese chrysanthemum head bats, phylloscopic head bats, fruit tree hoof bats, Chinese rat ear bats, Hao's rat ear bats, flat skull bats, large-hoofed bats, and Chinese chrysanthemum head bats.
Bats are nocturnal and generally do not actively contact and attack humans. Shenzhen citizens should rationally view the existence of bats, do not panic when encountering bats, try to avoid contact, and must not hunt and sell bats and other wild animals, because this behavior not only violates the law, but may also be suspected of crimes if the circumstances are serious.
On February 3, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources also reminded the general public on its WeChat public account that the prevention of wildlife diseases should:
1. Refuse to eat wild animals and establish a civilized view of food.
2. Avoid contact with wild animals and their excrement.
3. For the abnormal or dead situation of wild animals, the public can call 0755-23737770 to report to the Shenzhen Wildlife Rescue Center.
4. If it is found that wild animals are illegally traded, they can be reported through the 12315 hotline/platform, or the Shenzhen Municipal Forest Public Security Organ 0755-83299110.
"Bat swarm photographed at Fairy Lake Botanical Garden"
In the eyes of many Shenzhen citizens who love nature knowledge, outdoor sports and photography, bats are not terrible.
Yan Ying, who studies insect ecology, once photographed small hoofed bats hanging upside down in an abandoned old house on Qiniang Mountain — "small hoofed bats fold their wings during the day, sleep head down in a dark, hidden place, and fly out in the evening or at night to find food." ”
▲ Yan Ying's small hoof bat photographed in Qiniang Mountain (see October 14, 2013 Crystal News solo group "South Search Shenzhen")
In Wutong Mountain, Shenzhen, Li Cheng, head of the Xizijiang Ecological Conservation Center, photographed the giant horseshoe bat flying in the night sky.
"I photographed the big horseshoe bat at the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden near Wutong Mountain. Every evening, on the road in and out of the fairy lake botanical garden, there are a relatively large number of large horseshoe bats flying there. There were several trees blooming at the time, and I took several pictures and finally caught a clear one. On February 4, Li Cheng said when recalling his shooting experience that the bat swarm was 2-3 meters away from him, and the farthest was more than 10 meters.
▲ Li Cheng photographed the big horseshoe bat flying in the night sky (see the November 4 Crystal News solo group "South To Find Shenzhen")
Avoid bat habitats such as abandoned old mansions and caves
Li Cheng told the Crystal Daily reporter that bats belong to the more common wild animals. Among mammals, its number of species, second only to the most diverse rats, can be said to be a fairly successful species in nature. "This means that bats adapt to a variety of ecological niches and are widely distributed around us, whether it is forests, suburbs, or urban parks, buildings, there are bat habitats."
"There are more than a dozen species of bats I have seen in Shenzhen, such as many park sunflower trees, which will inhabit dog bats, which mainly eat fruits and nectar. There are also small hoofed bats, large hoofed bats, chrysanthemum bats and so on. Li Cheng especially reminded the public that bats especially love to haunt abandoned old houses, caves, abandoned mines, natural caves and other places, and it is best to avoid entering these places as much as possible.
▲ Li Cheng photographed bats in Shenzhen
It's not hard to live peacefully with bats
Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of the scientific research expert group on the joint prevention and control mechanism of the pneumonia epidemic caused by the new coronavirus infection, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency on February 2 that the analysis of the genome of 2019-nCoV showed that it has a similarity of 79.5% with SARS-CoV, while it has a similarity with the bat source CoV of 96%, basically supporting that 2019-nCoV originates from bats, but whether there is an intermediate host still needs to be studied.
In this regard, Li Cheng believes that there is no need to panic too much: "The bat itself is a natural existence, part of the ecosystem, although it carries the virus, but as long as humans do not touch and eat it, the possibility of bats having an impact on human health is very small." ”
What if citizens inadvertently have a close encounter with bats? Li Cheng said that the habit of bats themselves is to haunt at night and keep a distance from humans. Humans don't have to worry as long as they keep their distance from it. If you encounter bats flying home, or see bats injured or dead, pay attention to avoid contact and try to stay away.
Li Cheng believes that people do not have to kill bats at all. "Bat habits are secretive, and we can't and don't have to take the initiative to kill bats. Bats and humans have long formed a balanced relationship, and if we go to hunt it down, even eat it, and destroy its habitat, it will upset this balance. What we have to do is keep a certain distance from the wild animals, not to eat wild meat, not to kill wild animals. ”
The relevant person in charge of the Shenzhen Wildlife Conservation Department also believes that "the outbreak of the epidemic is also a reminder that human beings should live in harmony with nature and not to kill, sell and eat wild animals at will." ”
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Lesson learned: Culling bats to stop the spread of the virus? counterproductive!
Whether the host of the new coronavirus is a bat or not, this needs to be further studied by scientists. However, public information on the Internet shows that mass hunting of bats will not play an effective role in stopping the spread of the virus.
Take South America, for example. Since the 1970s, locals have been poisoning vampire bats on a massive scale to prevent rabies outbreaks. But a recent three-year survey of 20 bat habitats in Peru showed that things are getting worse , and in the face of abundant food resources and a lack of competition, bat populations can quickly rebound. Moreover, human hunting has driven bats between habitats, which has accelerated the spread of rabies viruses in bat swarms. In fact, in bat populations after the rebound, the proportion of rabies viruses is higher.
In addition, bat species account for almost 1/4 of the total number of mammal species, and they are of inestimable value for maintaining the earth's biodiversity. For example, insect-eating bats have directly wiped out hundreds of millions of pests for us.
Take, for example, the first outbreak of Niepa virus. In 1998, the degradation of forests in Southeast Asia and the drought of that year posed a serious threat to the survival of bats. So the fruit bats flew to a newly opened orchard in the rainforest to feed. Nearby pigs ate what was left of bats and passed on the virus to people.
Studies have shown that the emergence of infectious diseases requires the coincidence of various factors, and animals that carry viruses are only one of many factors. In the process of disease transmission from bats to humans, in fact, the human factor plays a major role - forest degradation, climate warming, and the expansion of the size of towns, resulting in the deterioration of the habitat of bats, all of which play a role in promoting the spread of the virus.
The source | Jingbao APP
The author of the picture| Li Cheng, Yan Ying
(Reporters: Wu Xin, Li Tingju; Editors: Chen Xiaoling)