MOST IMPORTANT SPECIES

The little ones suck blood, the giant ones trash your local park, but buts actually save us from insect plagues.

Every animal deserves a chance, but the fact is, some species are more vital than others. Let’s meet the beasts we can’t lose.

With about 1,240 different species, bats make up 20% of mammal biodiversity. During the day, most of them hide from the sunlight, but when darkness falls, they play a surprisingly important role.

Appoximately 70% of all bats feed on insects, and in only one night, a single bat is able to consume more than half its own body weight worth of insects. Throughout the world, the small, winged mammals make sure that insects will not take over, threatening the states of the ecosystems of our planet.

Other bat species feed on fruit, and both wild plants and farm crops depend on bats to be able to spread their pollen or seeds. The flying animals also do the ecosystems one last major favour: their faeces makes up one of the most highly nutritious types of fertilizer in the world.