Publisher's Synopsis
Public appreciation of the ecological value and remarkable biological adaptations of bats is rapidly growing. Bat-watching is one of the world's fastest growing specialist wildlife interests, and bat conservation groups have sprung up all over the world. This book was written to raise public awareness of bats in southern Africa, and to dispel some popular myths about them. It provides the prospective bat-watcher with both an authoritative species identification guide and a practical handbook. Bats of Southern Africa contains species accounts for all the region's 74 species of bats, with descriptions and diagnostic features as well as information on habitat, social and roosting habits, diet, reproduction, echolocation call, distribution and conservation status. Superb photographs by world bat expert Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle and illustrations by Christeen Grant are supplemented by distribution maps and sonograms of ultrasound echolocation. Dr.;Taylor, who is the Curator of Mammals at the Durban Natural Science Museum, also provides practical guidance for those eager to get started with bat-watching and 'hands-on' conservation projects such as bat groups, bat houses and bat detectors, and offers advice on dealing with householders' bat nuisance problems.
