Rapid Fire
State of India’s Bats Report
- 17 Apr 2026
- 2 min read
The first-ever national assessment, State of India’s Bats (2024–25), highlights the growing neglect and threats faced by bat species in India due to urbanisation, deforestation, land-use change, and climate impacts.
- Prepared by experts led by Nature Conservation Foundation and Bat Conservation International, the report underscores severe data gaps and the urgent need for research.
- Given bats’ critical ecological roles and their linkage with zoonotic diseases, the findings have implications for biodiversity conservation and public health.
Key Findings
- About: India hosts around 135 bat species, including 16 endemic species, reflecting significant biodiversity.
- However, 7 species are classified as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, while 35 species remain unassessed or data deficient, indicating serious knowledge gaps.
- Species like the Khasian Leaf-nosed bat face threats from hunting and mining, but lack proper conservation classification.
- Habitat & Roosting: They roost in caves, trees and man-made structures such as buildings and monuments as caves provide a stable microclimate and protection from predators
- Robber’s Cave (Mahabaleshwar) hosts one of the largest roosts of Phillip’s long-fingered bat.
- Function: Bats perform vital ecosystem services such as pollination, seed dispersal, pest control, and soil nutrient enrichment, making them indispensable for agricultural productivity and ecosystem stability.
- Issues: The report highlights bureaucratic hurdles in research permissions, contributing to persistent data deficits. Post-COVID stigma has further worsened perceptions, wrongly portraying bats primarily as disease carriers, despite their ecological benefits.
| Read more: Indian Flying Fox Bat: Pteropus giganteus |
