OOTY: The migration of fruit bats, commonly known as Mega Bat, to a particular spot near the Wellington lake, bordering Coonoor near here, for the second consecutive year now, has triggered renewed interest among the greens.
While the migration of a colony of fruit bats in the same period last year surprised ecologists here as the hills never witnessed such a huge population of migratory bats in recent decades, after a year, the migration of a colony of bats to the same location, that too in the same period as last year has not only astonished the greens but also incited interest among them to study bat migration to the hills.
N.Sadiq Ali, founder of the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Trust, said that bats usually avoid high altitudes. While the migratory bats at Wellington stayed for a couple of days last year, this year, they have been staying over two weeks now.
V.Sivadass, managing trustee of the Nilgiris Environment and Socio-cultural Trust, said that last year it was thought that a colony of bats had accidentally migrated to Coonoor from Kerala side after the devastating rains in Kerala.
“This year too, the erratic fruiting periodicity in neighbouring Kerala due to heavy rains there and possible disturbance to the breeding habitats of bats could have forced this bat colony to migrate to Wellington in search of a safer place. The availability of hill fruits, especially pears in this season, seems to be an attractive factor for bats to migrate to Wellington,” he reasoned.
