The Monfort Batcave on the Island Garden City of Samal is in the Guinness World Records for having the world’s largest colony of Geoffrey’s Rousette Fruit Bats. (Photo by SARAH JANE HILOMEN)

DAVAO CITY – A bat conservation group raised alarm on the threat humans are posing to the world’s biggest colony of Rousettus amplexicaudatus fruit-eating bats found on the Island Garden City of Samal.

Norma Monfort, president of the Monfort Bat Cave and Conservation Foundation (MBCCF), said the fruit bat colony in the Monfort cave in Barangay Tambo, Babak District on Samal Island is now overcrowded.

These fruit bats — recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world’s largest colony of Geoffroy’s Rousette (Rousettus amplexicaudatus) — in the Monfort eco-tourism park is estimated to reach about 1.8 million.

While there are many other caves on the island and in Southern Mindanao, these caves are practically empty but always show roost stains on walls, proving a huge and large long gone bat population.

Monfort said cave bats immediately leave seeking alternative “homes” when they feel threatened by disturbance from men who hunt and destroy their habitats. In the process they become more vulnerable and threatened to extinction because of the continued human misunderstanding of their importance to the ecological balance ecology.

To underscore the importance of protecting these mammals, a two-day eco-conservation fair at the SM City Davao Entertainment Centre will be held from April 21-22. The event is an initiative of the MBCCF, Philippine Bat Conservation, Inc., and supported by the private sector and various environmental groups both from the non-government and government groups, including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 9, Department of Tourism, Bat Conservation International, Foundation for Philippine Environment, and the Kinaiyahan Atimanon, Ubanan, ug Bantayan (Kauban).

Monfort said the event hopes to pursue a stronger advocacy on the protection and conservation of all bats found in our region so that with better understanding and stewardship of communities, barangays and cave owners, other caves can eventually be rehabilitated and utilized.

“Bats are always depicted as scary creatures but the truth is that they really are gentle mammals, simply misunderstood because they are animals of the night and the dark. The mere basic respect and understanding of what and who they are is a good starting point for anybody who wants to take responsibility and contribute in taking care of the health of our biodiversity,” she said.

This is a sanctuary described by the Bat Conservation International as a few known to scientists. In its 2006 report, the Texas-based group said that “If the wonder of nature still exists, then the bats at Monfort are one of the very few left on earth, particularly in the Philippines.”