B.C. firm on no bat imports, dead or alive
The National Geographic headline was disturbing. But even more so was an online search.
The Feb. 9, 2023 headline in a daily newsletter from National Geographic: Etsy and eBay are selling dead bats – and scientists are disturbed.
The article by Dina Fine Maron was forwarded for comment to Paula Rodriguez de la Vega, Okanagan region co-ordinator for the B.C. Community Bat Program (bcbats.ca)
“Oh! I hadn’t heard of this. In B.C., you need a wildlife permit to be in possession of any bats, dead or alive,” she responded.
A spokesman for the B.C. Ministry of Forests added: “It is illegal to possess a bat without a permit, whether the bat is alive or dead.
“These permits are granted to institutions, such as zoos, research facilities or other education centres.”
In the National Geographic story, Maron says: “Last October alone, more than 500 listings of dead bats appeared on Etsy and 71 on eBay; a few ran on other platforms.”
“It’s disturbing,” according to Joanna Coleman, a bat specialist and professor at Queens College in New York City. “Many bats reproduce slowly,” she said. So they are vulnerable to overexploitation, she told Maron.
Bats often are sold as framed specimens or mounted with their wings spread. But in searches last year, Coleman says she also “saw bat hats, barrettes and garter belts.” Some ads included multiple bats. In others, bats were displayed in tiny coffins.
More than 130 ads featured painted woolly bats – an Asian insect-eating species known for its striking orange and black colouring – and it’s possible that 117 other postings were for those bats too, said Nistara Randhawa, a data scientist at University of California Davis who has been scouring e-commerce platforms for listings of painted woolly bats, in particular. Most people offering bat products online appear to be in the U.S., she told Maron.
An online search on Tuesday found: batgoods.com, a small business operated by Emily Davis and Michael Warner at Speleobooks who have more than 40 years of experience at handling batrelated products of every description.
When asked about “a place which sells dead bats. The real thing,” Warner responded: “We have no dead bats available on our online store. Never have. Only antique prints by naturalists from the 18th and 19th century, plush toy bats (NOT real bats), jewelry, etc. Same for live bats. Never. Absolutely not. Antithesis to who we are and what we have been doing for decades. Any information you might have to the contrary is completely inaccurate. Entirely untrue,” he said.
“We work exclusively with conservation organizations and the purpose of our bat-themed products is entirely conservation-focused. We emphasize a batpositive message, and share cultural and artistic representations of bats through art, jewelry, clothing and gift items, much as any other animal advocacy group does. We are not promoting bats in any other light than as essential and significant in the natural world, to be protected, understood and appreciated. We work with conservation organizations to protect bats, their habitats and their role in the environment. And a percentage of every purchase from Batgoods.com is donated to help support bat conservation, research and education around the world.”
Then, there’s artemmortis.com which has “a large collection of dead specimens that have been preserved and placed into some sort of display. Some are in preserving fluid and called wet specimens, commonly displayed in glass jars. Others are dry specimens commonly displayed on pedestals or in glass domes.
“When we began this adventure, we started out as The Witch in the Woods on Etsy, a leading authority in the subject of Oddity & Curiosities. Today, our Etsy Shop is still online under the name, ArtemMortis. Artem Mortis is Latin for The Art of Death. Our success has allowed us to grow a much more interesting and diverse selection of inventory and allowed us to grow into a large online oddity shop with our own website. At Artem Mortis, the concept of death is nothing more than a transformation in which everything must undergo to reach a new beginning. We use death to provide art that is both beautiful and disturbing.”
There was no response to a query: “Is it legal to import a dead bat into Canada?”
Finally, there is: exoticanimalsforsale.net/bats-for-sale.asp
“The bat is a prime example of an exotic animal that could be considered a pet. There are a lot of things to take into consideration when deciding to keep a bat as a pet. For example, the climate they are used to is very important to keeping a healthy and happy animal. Depending on the type and origin of the bat, there are many different possibilities for the climates they are used to. However, in general, bats tend to live in a mild climate. Survival rate is low for bats in the winter as there are no bugs for them to eat, however, the harsh heat of summer can often be too much for them as well. This is why they are mainly found in milder states, where they can live happily for six months of the year and then hibernate in winter. It is important to understand the importance of climate in your home and in their cage as it can have detrimental effects on the health of the animal.”
There was a Newsweek article a few years ago about importing dead bats, noted Warner of batgoods.com.
“Most of the bats for sale are out of Asia. We see the importers at a trade show in Tennessee, The Smokey Mountain Gift Show. This is all U.S.based, of course, but expect any North American connection might have ties to Canada. We will check for specific information. The companies involved are more than a little sketchy.”