Baby bat season has just begun in Israel — and the already The Israeli Bat Sanctuary has taken in its first orphaned bat.
The week-old bat was found helpless on the ground, freezing and hungry in Jaffa on Monday. The sanctuary named him Ilay and the teeny bat is now under around-the-clock watch.
“Our wonderful volunteer rushed to the scene, collected the little bundle and transferred him to his new foster mom,” the sanctuary posted on Facebook. “Ilay’s super experienced foster mom warmed him up and nursed him with yummy nutritious formula.”
Bats cannot survive without their mothers and nursing orphans are at high-risk for survival.
But so far, baby Ilay is doing well.
By Wednesday he was spending a lot of time eating, sleeping and pooping on his human foster mom.
The sanctuary was founded 2016 in Tel Aviv by Nora Lifschitz, who is is dedicated to helping and saving the fruit bats of Israel, which are a protected species. Lifschitz, a real-life Batwoman of Israel, started her rescue operation in her apartment, but went on to build the first shelter for bats in the Middle East.
Her group relies on donations — a partners.
She helps rescue and rehabilitate orphaned bats with a team of veterinarians and volunteers. The goal is to return the wee-winged creatures back to the wild.
Lifschitz is passionate about her work as you can see in her videos.
But for now the focus is on each new bat that finds its way to the shelter.
“Rescuing Ilay marks the beginning of our busiest season,” she writes. “When the babies start coming but there are still bats with abscesses, like this handsome guy treated for abscesses on his back and neck.”
The group offers tips for anyone in the country who finds a hurt, sick or abandoned bat.
“f you find a bat hanging alone near people – always presume it is ill, bats always hang together,” it adds.
