Monday Cute: Orphaned Australian Baby Bats, Rolled Into Tiny Bat-Ritos

The Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Centre took in these baby flying foxes when their mothers were killed in an extreme heat wave. Swaddling the bats in fabric helps to nurture the infants until they are healthy enough to be released back into the wild. According to the clinic:

When a bat mother dies, often their young are still attached and will not survive without the right care. Bat carers play a vital role in not only retrieving suffering bats, but rehabilitating them until they can be released back into the wild. When baby bats first enter rehabilitation it can be traumatising for them as they have just been separated from their mothers to which they have formed strong bonds. Bat carers have to ensure that the baby bats not only are well fed, but that they are nurtured and feel safe in their temporary new home. Providing affection to the bats is a necessity. The teats represent their mother’s nipple, and this makes them feel more comfortable, as does the security of the blankets which they are often snugly wrapped in. The bats will remain at the Australian Bat Clinic until they are old enough to be released.

And rid Gotham of crime, presumably.

(Via Laughing Squid)

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Carolyn Cox