30-03-2020, 19:20
The Bat Man of Mexico 2014 BBC
It follows Robert Medellin, a Mexican zoologist who studies the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat which is one of the pollinators of the agave plant that is the basis of the tequila industry.
The bats migrate 2,000km along the west coast of Mexico to breed in a small number of caves in the Sonoran desert and Roberto loves nothing more than wading through lakes of bat guano in caves where he often has to wear a respirator because of the rancid atmosphere.
St David of Attenborough who is the narrator says that the collapse in the bat population was endangering the tequila industry and that the farmers, government and scientists all co-operated in a conservation effort so that the bat numbers have rebounded and it is no longer endangered. Slammers all round!
However, the Environmental Defence Fund site tells a completely different story by saying that the agave farmers were not dependent on the bats because they use cloned plants and harvest them before they flower and that persuading the farmers to let 5% of plants bloom is the reason the bat numbers have increased from 1,000 to 100,000.
I think I'll check Michaela Strachan's twitter feed to see if she can set the record straight on this one.
It follows Robert Medellin, a Mexican zoologist who studies the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat which is one of the pollinators of the agave plant that is the basis of the tequila industry.
The bats migrate 2,000km along the west coast of Mexico to breed in a small number of caves in the Sonoran desert and Roberto loves nothing more than wading through lakes of bat guano in caves where he often has to wear a respirator because of the rancid atmosphere.
St David of Attenborough who is the narrator says that the collapse in the bat population was endangering the tequila industry and that the farmers, government and scientists all co-operated in a conservation effort so that the bat numbers have rebounded and it is no longer endangered. Slammers all round!
However, the Environmental Defence Fund site tells a completely different story by saying that the agave farmers were not dependent on the bats because they use cloned plants and harvest them before they flower and that persuading the farmers to let 5% of plants bloom is the reason the bat numbers have increased from 1,000 to 100,000.
I think I'll check Michaela Strachan's twitter feed to see if she can set the record straight on this one.