Northumberland Zoo footage captures birth of rare bat

Northumberland Zoo managed to capture the rare birth of a Livingstone's Fruit Bat.

Keepers at the Eshott attraction noticed one of the bats, Selene, was showing unusual behaviours and experiencing discomfort before quickly realising she was going into labour.

She kept flipping herself to hang from her thumbs to use gravity to help her ‘pull’ the pup out during two hours of labour.

By instinct, the pup then manoeuvred itself towards the mother’s teat located under their ‘armpit’ to attach itself and stay safe while Selene flew around and fed.

With approximately 1,200 wild Livingstone’s Fruit Bats left across the Republic of Comoros due to deforestation and increased severe tropical storms from global warming, they are at risk of imminent extinction.

Keepers witnessed another female bat, Sima, who gave birth to the zoo’s first pup in November 2023, rush over to help Selene with cleaning the pup.

This alloparental care caught the attention of scientists worldwide and a scientific paper will be published on the events, behaviours and interactions caught on film pre and post birth.

Zoo curator Maxine Bradley said: “It was an incredible moment to witness the birth of such a rare species – and to be able to capture it on camera for the world to share this experience with us was breath-taking.

“For a moment there, we thought it was all over as we watched, helplessly, from 20 metres away, but we were then relieved to see Selene pull through and do such a great job.”

A second female, Thea, also gave birth to her first pup over the Mother’s Day weekend in the same way.

Both pups are doing well and the keepers are checking them visually throughout the day. The sexes of the pups are not known yet and this will be determined on the first vet health check.

Maxine said: “Our goal with this exhibit is to change visitor perceptions with regards to bats. These bats have adorable fox-like furry faces, with big Mickey Mouse ears and huge eyes - I want people to fall in love with them and gain a new favourite animal when they visit.”

You can watch more about the bat birth on the Zoo’s YouTube channel and use their interactive app to learn about the species.