This project will build the only free-tailed bat rehabilitation flight cage in South Africa! Providing the safe space needed to get them back on the wing and enabling the bats to build up their flight muscles, so that they can be successfully released back into the wild. 100's of free-tailed bats end up in rehabilitation centres after either having been orphaned or injured. Without a flight cage for release preparations, they must either spend the rest of their lives in cages or put down.
Free-tailed bats have long narrow wings that are designed for speed and long hours of flight in the open air high above the tree tops. Because of this free-tailed bats require large flight cages big enough for them to fly for long periods without landing, allowing them to develop the necessary fitness they require to return to the wild. There are 100's of bats in rehabilitation centres and sanctuaries across the country that are releasable, and their freedom is just a flight cage away.
Without a flight cage for release preparation free-tailed bats can't go free as they would be unable to sustain flight, end up on the ground and succumb to predators or starvation. This massive flight cage will stand 5 meters tall by 22 meters wide and 25 meters long. Giving rehabilitated bats a safe space in which to stretch their wings and train their flight muscles, preparing them for life back on the wing and in the wild.
There is no bat flight cage like this in the country, meaning 100's of free-tailed bats that are currently being housed in rehabilitation centres across South Africa will finally be able to make that final preparation to freedom. We have joined forces with ReWild NPC, SA's leading experts in bat rehabilitation to provide these amazing little mammals with the facilities they need. Help us get South Africa's free-tailed bats back into the wild.
