Austin News Roundup
Lots of local action this winter and spring! Merlin won second place – and $5,000 – in the second half of the RecognizeGood “Say Thanks, Austin” campaign. Thank you to the tens of thousands of you who made this possible by voting and sharing! Merlin’s story continues to inspire. He’s appeared recently in a video produced by […]
Animal Influencers at SXSW
By now you probably know that bats positively impact ecosystems worldwide and help combat climate change, but did you know that bats are helping humans stay inspired and avoid climate fatigue? Repeated predictions of disappearing coastline and species extinction have resulted in climate fatigue among even the most ardent nature lovers. People exhausted by the […]
August 26th – Inaugural Merlin Tuttle Day
We surprised Merlin – yes, actually surprised – with a birthday celebration for his 80th birthday on August 26, 2021, in Austin, Texas. And Mayor Steve Adler of the City of Austin officially proclaimed August 26th as Merlin Tuttle Day, in honor of his success in saving the city’s now world-famous bats. Be it known […]
Bat Flash! One of World’s Greatest Wildlife Wonders Under Immediate Threat
The survival of ten million straw-colored fruit bats may hinge on your voice. They come from across equatorial Africa to rear their young in Zambia’s Kasanka National Park, which serves as critical roosting habitat each October and November. Now both the park, and adjacent forest where bats feed, are threatened by a proposal for expansion of industrial […]
Inspiring Bat Conservation Through Photos
The Bat Scan Project provides photo documentation, enabling a growing number of conservation projects and exhibits worldwide to share the values of bats. These photos are also heavily used in children’s books, school reports, and in both scientific and popular publications. For example, the Smithsonian’s book, BATS: An Illustrated Guide to All Species, exclusively relied […]
Exploring Ecuador’s Los Cedros Reserve
This rainy February, we visited Los Cedros Biological Reserve in Ecuador. Roo Vandegrift, and crew, are filming Marrow of the Mountain; a documentary about the mega-mining now in Ecuador. “In 2017, the amount of land available for mining expanded by hundreds of percent, leaving huge swaths of Ecuador’s most sensitive and biodiverse habitats at the mercy of […]
COVID-19 Impact: A Viral Witch Hunt
Read A VIRAL WITCH HUNT Merlin’s op-ed, “A Viral Witch Hunt,” published in Issues in Science and Technology on March 27, 2020 illustrates how misguided focus on bats as speculated sources of scary diseases threatens an invaluable resource and leads to misdirection of public health resources. It’s a call to action to improve our personal […]
49th NASBR in Kalamazoo, Michigan
The 49th Annual North American Symposium on Bat Research was held in Kalamazoo, Michigan on October 23-26, 2019. It was hosted by Amy Russell and Maarten Vonhofm amidst a quintessential Midwestern autumn. There’s no better place to keep up with the latest bat research technologies and discoveries or for graduate students to explore career options. […]
Bat Association at Texas State Lecture
The Bat Association at Texas State University (BATS) in San Marcos is only a few months old, but already boasts more than 150 members. Its mission is to raise awareness and concern for these long neglected, but essential animals. Merlin Tuttle speaking to the Texas State Bat Association at Texas State University. Conservation Sarah Fritts, […]
Atlas Obscura’s SXSW Bat Watching Evening with Merlin
Atlas Obscura features travel, exploration and hosts a collaborative guide to worldwide locations of special interest. Bats seem a perfect fit with a publication featuring the world’s hidden wonders! This week, they hosted their first Austin bat watching event, an armada of more than 50 kayakers, led by organization co-founder Dylan Thuras and Merlin Tuttle and sponsored […]