Conservationists open court battle against companies threatening fruit bats in Zambia

ZAMBIAN conservationists are seeking a high court injunction to save a wildlife haven which Sir David Attenborough has described as “the largest fruit-bat roost on Earth”.

Ten million African fruit bats fly annually from the Democratic Republic of Condo to a swamp in Zambia’s Kasanka National Park, blotting out the sky in what is thought to be the largest annual migration of mammals.

The 2021 migration has just ended. But the charity that manages the park fears that by next year, nearby forests full of fruit on which the bats feast will have been heavily cut after more than 12,000 acres were allegedly handed over or sold to two private companies.

In papers filed at the high court in Lusaka for a case opening, the conservationists argue “illegal” development projects will turf locals off their land, destroy the bats’ food and endanger other rare species.

James Mwanza, general manager of the park, said the court papers name the private companies Lake Agro Industries and RSA Gulf Adventures, as well as six government agencies.

“We hope the courts will grant us an injunction against these developers,” he said, speaking to The Daily Telegraph.

“We have reached out to the government and they are fully aware of this case. It is very distressing to see how the local community has been affected.

“The companies are already growing maize and wheat on the community’s land, as we speak. The (companies) claim they were given the land by the late Chief Chitambo who died in July of Covid,” he added.

The papers filed in Lusaka seek an injunction on four grounds: that the companies commenced activities without approval from the Zambia environmental agency; took water for irrigation without a permit; cut down trees in a forest belonging to the local community; and introduced non-indigenous species into a protected area adjacent to the park.

Earlier this year, the Kasanka Trust publicly accused Gulf Adventures of occupying a large chunk of the Game Management Area – a patch of land adjacent to the park that is meant to be left undisturbed under Zambia’s wildlife protection regulations.

Conservationists say fencing has illegally been pushed into the park and that an airstrip is under construction within the GMA. They also say non-indigenous animals put into a new fenced area in the GMA escaped after elephants breached the fence.

Sir David first brought the park to international attention when he filmed the migration of the bats in 2009.