The two Aria hotel employees were surprised to discover two fruit bats flying around in one of the rooms. Apparently the two bats were able to enter the room during the night and then found themselves trapped.
More stories:
Meital Ohev Zion and Fahed Amarna, Aria hotel employees, noticed the female bat and her cub and immediately called an Israel Nature and Parks Authority inspector. "We saw the mother with the cub around her stomach and we did the only humane thing we know and that is to save them. We called an inspector. Meanwhile, we put them in a box and he came to treat them. It is every person's obligation to save animals," they said. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority commended the two on their conduct in this situation.
Female bat and cub found in Eilat hotel room
(Photo: Omri Omessi, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
The female bat and her cub were taken by Israel Nature and Parks Authority inspector Omri Omessi. After consultation with the Israel Bat Sanctuary, it became apparent that the female bat was starving and stopped lactating for her cub as a result. The female bat was provided with fruits and the cub was fed concentrated fructose.
Bats are a protected species in Israel. Israel has signed international treaties which protect several species, including bats.
The bats' mating season is typically in the fall and maternity season is in the summer. In Israel, the mating season is also in the fall but maternity season occurs in the spring.
Israel Nature and Parks Authority has said it is challenging to monitor the reproductive habits of bats for two reasons: they usually reproduce in dark hiding places or inside a den holding hundreds of other bats and it is the habit of many bats to mate in Israel and give birth after migrating to a different country. Also, some bat pregnancies last six weeks and some last eight months.
In most sub-species, the male bat creates a 'harem' of bats and waits for female bats to join him. The female bats in turn look for a safe location to give birth to a single cub. The cub is born bald, blind and helpless and so he latches on to his mother with his teeth for breastfeeding.
Bats are helpful to mankind and our ecosystem, so there is no need to fear them. The presence of bats controls the population of bugs, which saves humans money and obviates the need to use harmful pesticides. Fruit bats who eat ripe fruits decrease the reproduction rate of fruit flies, resulting in the prevention of the spread of fungal diseases.