It seems I owe Batman an apology. I often thought that the famous masked superhero took a few creative liberties in his super-gadgets, managing feats that no bat would ever be able to undertake. Climbing up a glass building, thanks to sucker pads, however is apparently something that bats can do!
It appears that things are looking up for the Sucker Footed Bat (Myzopoda aurita) of Madagascar as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has upgraded it from Vulnerable, where it was listed in 1990, to Least Concern after reassessing the animal in 2008 and concluding that population numbers are high, and that there are no longer any obvious major threats to its existence.
This species is commonly found in the humid rainforest zone of eastern and north-eastern Madagascar and usually lives at elevations lower than 500 metres, although a few of them have been spotted at higher elevations. They can also be found in agricultural land and urban areas.The bats themselves are nocturnal and like to dine out on moths and other flying insects, but many scientists believe they aren’t fussy and will basically eat whatever is available. They like to feed in freshly-dug paddy fields and in newly cleared rain forest areas as there is usually an abundance of insects in those areas. This species uses echolocation to capture prey. This is a process of locating objects by emitting sounds which are reflected back to the animal by objects in the sound's path.
The reproduction and life cycle of the bat is a bit of a mystery, but they give birth to several youngsters at a time and appear to stay with them until they are independent.
While a lot of people are afraid of the creepy looking bats, they actually help farmers by destroying pests to their crops.
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