Bats & COVID-19

Protecting bats is important for our health and the health of our planet

Bats play a vital role in keeping us healthy, restoring our natural ecosystems, and supporting human economies around the world.  Studying and monitoring bats in their natural habitats allows researchers to better understand the ability of many bat species to tolerate viruses. These research efforts may be key to the next breakthrough vaccine or treatment against shared viruses.

Importantly, insect-eating bats protect crops around the world and help minimize the need for pesticides. Nectar-seeking bats are also essential, as pollinators, for maintaining food supplies.  And fruit-eating bats are the world’s foremost seed-dispersers, distributing more seeds than any other fruit-eating bird or mammal, which plays a critical role in regenerating forests, meadows, deserts, and other landscapes.