i've seen these featured on zoolex exhibits and i'm very curious as to how thye are kept and msanaged given their unusual diet. i'm interested into hiw they are fed etc. how common are these bats in zoos, i understand that there aren't any in uk zoos (i think). thank you
they are fed on blood in small dishes. They stand on the ground next to the dish and lap up the blood
I've seen them being fed from ice-trays Kind of cute- more so now that I've finished reading 'Twilight' and have the vampire thing in my system- hehe.
Some zoos collect blood from nearby butcher shops or slaughter houses. I've even heard of one zoo that collects blood from their children's zoo cows...about the amount that would be needed to do an analysis. The bats dont consume too much.
London used to have a thriving colony in the 1960s/70s. One problem used to be that vampire bats in the UK had to be kept under permanent rabies quarantine conditions, I don't know if this still applies, though I expect it does. My nephew aged about 7 at the time of the opening of the Twilight Zone at Chester said they ought to have free flying vampire bats. Sounds interesting!
The species of Vampire bats you're most likely to encounter in a zoo is the Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus). Temperature, humidity and other general husbandry requirements are quite similiar to that of other Neotropical Phyllostomidae kept in captivity. You can find a rough list of zoos keeping them at zootierliste.de and isis.org They are usually fed cow blood collected from slaughterhouses; some zoos might add a bit of citron acid to slow down the clotting of the blood. Since vampire bats have a very fast metabolism rate and can only endure short periods without food, they require regular and rather frequent feeding, especially when housing larger groups. As their excrements are quite liquid, they quickly pollute their enclosure. And if you think that 'normal' bat guano smells badly, then you have never smelt vampire bat guano. I kind of doubt that part with the free-flying vampire bats...
hehehe would be interesting though . thanks for all the info they have always been a mystery to me. would be nice to see this species back into the UK (otherwise i can't see them)
They are surprisingly easy to keep and, apparently, don't bite their keepers. I wonder if any zoo can organise feeding demonstrations with some chicken or goat - apparently vampire bite doesn't feel.
I found some info on captive vampire bats. The curious, bloody lives of vampire bats: among the most highly specialized mammals on the planet, vampire bats display a host of fascinating adaptations to their blood diet | Natural History | Find Articles at BNET furst known zoo birth Birth in a Bat House - TIME feeding off live chickens View Article Michelle and Gerry PCT hike: Bats, bats, bats, bats....
"A tiny, loathsome, jut-jawed creature which lives on blood sucked from beasts and men". LOL How times have changed
London zoo kept them in the Clore pavillion when it first opened, then they were moved to the institute of zoology on the zoo grounds i don't know if they are still there or the group has died out.
I think you'll find there are animal welfare isues that would prevent this. The saliva contains a mild anaethestic which numbs the bite site, but after the anaesthetic wears off, the animal would still have an open wound that keeps bleeding due to an anticoagulant in the saliva. Also, one of the bats favourite location to bite is the ankle, and if you put agoat or chicken in an enclosure with the bats, theres the risk your bats may get trodden on and injured. And some people are a little funny about their children seeing live animals injured by other animals. Hix
Oh, you DO feel the bite-believe me... There are some institutions (one in Trinidad-Tobago) where the vampires kept have access to the legs(!) of chicken for a regular meal. I don't think that would work in a public exhibit; quicker than you can say "vampire", you'd have animal rights activists screaming in public agony...
According to the latest edition of the IZES zoo grapevine magazine for winter 2008, Berlin zoo has acquired some common vampire bats along with long tongued bats for its revamped (sorry for the pun) nocturnal house
