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This statement is just the opinion of Good Morning America. It's not a true claim, and the opinion of GMA isn't important enough to include per WP:DUE |
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| date = August 12, 2007 |
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| url = http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-08-12/news/17255816_1_bats-leslie-sturges-pups |
| url = http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-08-12/news/17255816_1_bats-leslie-sturges-pups |
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| accessdate = April 16, 2011}}</ref> |
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| accessdate = April 16, 2011}}</ref> and has been described as "the largest bat rescue center on the planet."<ref name = "CBS">{{cite news |title=Nothing Scary About Bat World: For A Texas Rescuer, Bats Are Loveable |author= |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/31/earlyshow/contributors/melindamurphy/main581091.shtml |newspaper=CBS News |date=October 31, 2003 |accessdate=April 23, 2011}}</ref> |
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==History== |
==History== |
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Revision as of 07:34, 2 December 2012
Bat World Sanctuary was founded in 1994 as a non-profit rescue-rehabilitation center and sanctuary operated exclusively for bats. Based in North Texas, the organization is "dedicated to educating the community about bats to dispel myths and encourage conservation as well as providing rescue efforts for the species".[1] It is one of several bat conservation organizations active in the United States.[2]
History
The owner of Bat World Sanctuary, Amanda Lollar, was inspired to start the organization in 1989 when she discovered an injured Mexican free-tailed bat on her way to the bank. She put it in a box with food and water so that it could die a peaceful death, but the bat recovered and lived for another 18 months. Lollar named the bat "Sunshine," and sometimes refers to the sanctuary as "Sunshine's legacy."[3]
The original Bat World was built in a historic retail building in downtown Mineral Wells, Texas. In 1992 a much larger wild sanctuary was started just a block away from Bat World. It was sited in a two-story apartment building that was built in 1899, and had been vacant for years. Lollar purchased the building when she heard that the owner was selling it and planned to exterminate residing bats as part of the process. The hand-hewn sandstone construction of the building had crumbled over time, leaving cracks and openings ideal for bats to inhabit.[3] Two years later, in 1994, the sanctuary was oficially founded[4] as a non-profit organization.[5]
In 2011 a Bat World Sanctuary line of wines was released by Benefit Wines[6]
In June 2012, Bat World Sanctuary was awarded 6.1 million dollars in damages in its defamation lawsuit against a former volunteer.[7][8]
Research and Impact
Bat World Sanctuary has been described as "the largest bat rescue center on the planet," with an estimated 20,000 Mexican free-tails inhabiting the sanctuary, plus a seasonal maternity colony of about 500 females who move in each spring. It is the first sanctuary for non-releasable bats,[9] and holds about 150 non-releasable bats who live there permanently.[3]
There is a special area inside Bat World Sanctuary that serves as a rehabilitation center for sick or injured bats. It is a simulated natural habitat with different features that cater to specific types of bat in order to lower the stresses that bats experience from being captive. Annually, as many as 200 rehabilitated bats are released back to the wild.[3]
Lollar and the staff at the sanctuary have also launched a bat house project, where they would remove unwanted bats from local buildings free of charge as long as the building owners agreed to hang bat houses close to where the bats formerly entered the buildings. The bat houses were also provided for free through the program.[10]
Observations by volunteers for Bat World Sanctuary and Bat Conservation International led researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M to conclude "that male bats create songs to attract females and warn other males to stay away".[11]
References
- ^ "McKinney Performing Arts Center presenting Stellaluna". Pegasus News. Dallas, Texas. January 16, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Kunkle, Fredrick (August 12, 2007). "Don't turn a blind eye to bats, rescuer says: Unless you see their faces, 'you'll never know they're cute'". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c d Keller, Tiffany (Summer 1999). "Bat World". BATS Magazine. www.batcon.org. Retrieved December 01, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Where the Bats Are". Dallas Morning News. Dallas, Texas. July 28, 2002. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
- ^ IRS Exempt Organizations Search
- ^ "Bat World Sanctuary". Benefit Wines. Retrieved December 01, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Polling, Rebecca (June 18, 2012). "Bat World Sanctuary in Mineral Wells wins $6.1 million judgment". Pegasus News. Retrieved December 01, 2012.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Barbee, Darren (15 June 2012). "Bat rescuer awarded $6.1 million in libel suit". McClatchey Star-Telegram. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
- ^ Finch, Patty (December 21, 2011). "Bat World Sanctuary, Inc. Earns Verification from Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries" (PDF). Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. Retrieved December 01, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Bat Houses: An Educational Opportunity". BATS Magazine. 12 (2). 1994.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Patel, Vimal (August 29, 2009). "Males bats' mating songs could be valuable for research". Bryan College Station Eagle. Bryan-College Station, Texas. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)