Not Cats but Bats?
Lots of people have been asking us why they haven't seen so much
of Kay in the last year. She has in fact been spending some time
studying for a Masters degree in Conservation Medicine. This is a
subject which looks at the link between human disease, animal disease
and the impact of environmental change. Many recent emerging infectious
diseases such as SARS have originated because of the changing
relationships between man and nature, so this is a really important
area to study.
This year Kay is undertaking a special project studying Livingstone's
fruit bats in a captive breeding colony at the Durrell Wildlife
Conservation Centre in Jersey. These magnificent bats have a wing span
of nearly five feet and are one of the largest bat species in the
world. They come from two small islands near to Madagascar and there is
a real possibility of extinction in the next two decades because their
forest habitat is being cut down at an alarming rate. Breeding in
captivity may be the only way of ensuring their survival, so work such
as Kay's is vital to conserving these wonderful creatures.