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CUU LONG DELTA — Conservationists in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta provinces have raised the alarm over the decimation of local bat populations by eager hunters.

Bat numbers are thought to have fallen by more than two-thirds in just 10 years, as bat becomes an increasingly popular dish on restaurant menus.

The fad has spread like wildfire, and it seems everyone in the provinces of Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang and Can Tho is talking about hunting and eating bat.

Poachers are rushing to take advantage of the trend. Many are motivated by money, but a few just by the thrill of the chase.

Angry landlord Ba Sai looks out over the garden of his house in Ca Mau’s Cai Nuoc District, where fewer and fewer bats are coming to roost.

"I clearly remember just a decade ago, when tens of thousands of bats would come in a flock and perch on mangrove trees in my garden," he says.

"Nowadays, there are just a few thousand, and they are always ready to take off en masse when they hear the sound of a poacher’s gun."

The hunters without guns prefer to spread out a huge net in the animals’ flight path.

This means many bats are killed in the net itself, because they struggle to escape from it and their wings are broken. Those that live are sold to restaurants.

Rampant bat hunting of this kind is threatening the future of Chua Doi (Bat Pagoda) in Soc Trang Province, an area known for its high concentration of bats.

"We sit up all night watching the bats, keeping an eye out for hunters," says Lam Tu Linh, a gaunt-faced senior bonze at the pagoda.

The pagoda was built in 1565, and is a hallowed spot for the animal. Bats from all over the region used to gather here, often blacking out the pagoda from view.

"But now the number of bats here is less than one-tenth what it was in the past," Linh says.

The arhats at the Bat Pagoda are powerless to stop the slaughter, because the hunters greatly outnumber the monks.

Some local citizens are helping to guard the pagoda, but the poachers are still finding their way in to hunt and kill the bats.

More bats on restaurant tables

While the tense confrontation between local conservationists and bat hunters goes on, more and more bats seem to ending up on restaurant tables.

Customers can choose from bat wine, baked meat, curried bat and bat rice soup. Many people say bat is a very healthy form of meat.

Customers who eat bat are usually those with cash to burn, because the average bat dish costs about VND60,000 to VND100,000 a course.

The attraction is that the food is unusual, rather than that it is nutritious.

It is also common to see bats impounded in iron cages at the restaurants. In Ca Mau’s Bui Thi Truong Street, there is a 2m wide cage with more than 100 bats inside, ready for slaughter.

The restaurateurs are keen because bat is cheap at wholesale prices: VND20,000 for a smaller bat and about VND25,000 for a large one.

The buyers can purchase as many bats as they want.

"Doesn’t matter if you want just a few or more than one hundred – you can get it," a seller says.

With just 20-30 per cent of 1990’s bat population still surviving, the provincial authorities are trying to take action.

They have forbidden traders exploiting and trading in bat, but their edict has come too late and is having little impact.

Ca Mau rangers reported seizing only a single truck (with 80 bats) in the last few months. They imposed a fine of VND500,000 on the trader.

Drastic solutions are needed to stop the killing of bats for food. Experts say this is the only way to protect the animal from extinction. — VNS

www.ecologyasia.com

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