Now that they are living in large octagons, they can have a more natural,  uninterrupted flight pattern.  In their last enclosure, they would fly across the rectangular area, then stop and turn to fly back the other way. Now at night they fly around in a circle, changing directions as they choose and can fly straight into their dark roost where they spend the day sleeping.

These bats came to Peace River in 2002,when the Sarasota-Bradenton Children's Zoo closed abruptly, leaving the animals with nowhere to go. 

The original 6 bats of this colony had been smuggled into the United States and were almost sold illegally at a reptile show several years earlier.  Confiscated by authorities, they were taken to the Sarasota Bradenton Children's Zoo.  They lived at that roadside zoo, breeding freely, until the colony grew to over 86 bats. All of the animals at the zoo were about to be destroyed by authorities when we were asked to to take them.

Of course, we have not allowed them to continue breeding, but rather than spaying and neutering that many bats, we have maintained them in two separate enclosures, one for males and one for females.

To learn more, see our page on the Egyptian Fruit Bats

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