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Hawks and owls regularly kill and eat bats. [26][27] According to some sources bat meat was never sold in the market,[28][29][30] and it has been reported that the bats are not a common food source in the city of Wuhan. [46] One study in Madagascar predicted that the rate of childhood anemia would increase 29% if access to bushmeat, including bat meat, was restricted, predominantly affecting the poorest households who could not afford to purchase meat from domestic animals. Many people are repelled by the look of bats and the fear that bats might carry disease. [23][24][25] In southern China, bats are sometimes eaten and can be found in some markets. Some of the larger ones eat fruit. [43] Estufa de morcego is a bat stew delicacy in the cuisine of São Tomé and Príncipe that is served on saints days and during fiestas. [7], Abundant and larger-bodied species are more frequently consumed in Africa, including the straw-coloured fruit bat, Franquet's epauletted fruit bat, the Gambian epauletted fruit bat, the hammer-headed bat, and Egyptian fruit bat. This may be reduced by adding garlic, onion, chili pepper or beer during cooking. Bats have an amazing ability to use radar to avoid obstacles as well as predators, but there are some predators who have these night flyers figured out. Bat bodies typically are small; the light brown bat, for example, has a body about 4 inches long and weighs less than half an ounce. In some places, bats are even killed by little birds that fly into bat caves and peck them to death. In 1997, it was estimated that the Aboriginal people of the Top End consumed 180,000 flying foxes each year. [37], Bats are regularly hunted and consumed in Oceania, and are the only native land mammals of many isolated islands. [7] In some Malaysian cities, bats are seen as a luxury meat. Soups, stews and curries using bat meat are prepared. [48], It has been speculated that megabats may be the natural reservoir of Ebolavirus,[49] though the evidence has been called "far from decisive". [2] Back in 2001, it was reported that 7% of households in Thailand's Phu Kheio Wildlife Sanctuary ate bat meat. [50] Due to the possible association between Ebola infection and "hunting, butchering and processing meat from infected animals", several West African countries banned bushmeat (including megabats) or issued warnings about it during the 2013–2016 epidemic; many bans have since been lifted. [7], At least 55 species of bat are hunted in Africa, though larger bats are preferred targets and small, insectivorous species are considered less desirable. Some indigenous peoples may consume bats, with the Nambiquara people known to consume three species of leaf-nosed bat. [7] In Southeast Asia, bats are widely hunted in ten of the eleven countries, excluding only Singapore. [39][40], Paniki is a dish from Minahasan, North Sulawesi made from fruit bat. But how did it hop to humans? In areas of the world where it's common for people to eat bats, those people can catch diseases from the flying mammals. Hawks and owls regularly kill and eat bats. [31][32][33] Some media outlets, including Daily Mail and RT, promoted a video that showed a young Chinese woman eating a bat and suggested it was shot in Wuhan, but later it was confirmed that the footage was filmed by travel vlogger Wang Mengyun in the island country of Palau in 2016, to showcase local cuisine. Some larger bats prey on smaller bats when they share habitat areas. Bat hunting is most prevalent in West and Central Africa. To reduce attack by certain night-flying birds, bats may display lunar phobia, or lessen night time activity when there is a full moon. [2], Bat meat is not especially popular in China. ", "Don't Blame Bat Soup for the Wuhan Virus", "Virologists weigh in on novel coronavirus in China's outbreak", "New coronavirus may have started in bats. Some swoop suddenly out of nowhere, grabbing bats in flight before the bats can react.

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