#bats of asia

[daily-batposting]

Black-Bearded Tomb Bat, photographed by Lars Petersson, (source)

[loveisinthebat]

Coffee Bat

[kelawar-ungu]

Bat Week 2020: A Celebration of Bats in Asia-Pacific Cultures Art by Reimena Yee.

(Bigger image from here for more readable text. The background colouring is a little too bright though)

Text on the map under the cut.

You may have heard the soft flutter of bat wings at dusk, noticed them flitting around at night, or even seen them sleeping under roof eaves, in trees and caves during the day. But apart from these brief encounters, have you ever wondered how bats may have traditionally held deeper symbolic meaning in various cultures?

This visual map guide celebrates the many positive bat symbols and folklore found across the Asia-Pacific region. Our ancestors recognised the importance and wonder of bats!

Look out for our full write-up and get updates by following rimba.ngo!

Project Pteropus, a project under RIMBA.

India

In India, Hindu devotees of the goddess Kali worship and protect flying foxes which roost in sacred groves. Bats also feature as symbols of love in Tamil Sangam poetry, dating back more than 2000 years!

China / Taiwan / Chinese culture

A tale from ancient China: The gods took pity on Zhong Kui when he committed suicide. They named him King of Ghosts and tasked him to discipline demons, with bats acting as his helpers who scout out demons for him to vanquish.

In Chinese opera, the Zhong Kui character wears a bat motif on his mask.

The Five Blessings (五福 wŭfú) in Chinese culture are health, wealth, longevity, love of virtue and peaceful death. They are represented symbolically by five bats (五蝠 wŭfú).

In traditional Chinese culture, bats are lucky symbols because the word for bat (蝠 fú) sounds like the word for blessing (福 fú).

Lucky bat motifs can be found on traditional ceramics, jewellery and textiles in Chinese, Peranakan and other Chinese-influenced communities across East and Southeast Asia.

Vietnam

Locals believe that flying foxes roosting in the Wat Mahatup temple grounds in Vietnam are calling forth blessings from Buddha when they circle the temple during their fly-out every evening.

Malaysia / Indonesia

The indigenous Mah Meri in Peninsular Malaysia perform a traditional dance called 'kuang kuwait', mimicking the graceful movements of flying foxes.

The 'siku keluang' a choreography step in the traditional Malay Zapin dance represents humility and restraint - inspired by the flying fox wrapping up its mighty wings' strength when not in flight.

The 'siku keluang', meaning flying fox elbow in the Malay language, is a zigzag, chevron or herringbone motif used in Malay and Javanese traditional textiles and pottery.

According to a traditional Iban belief from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, bats act as shamanic messengers to the upper-world during the Gawai harvest festival.

The indigenous Iban in Sarawak traditionally featured the flying fox, locally known as 'semawa', as a tattoo motif.

Papua New Guinea / Western New Guinea

In Bowi folklore of Papua New Guinea, Kinjinmbunduo was a mythical giant flying fox female spirit who left thunderstorms and strong winds in her wake, striking terror and awe but also replenishing the river basin with fruit trees by dispersing seeds during her nocturnal visits.

In New Guinea and Papua New Guinea, the indigenous Asmat and Trobriand carved out flying fox motifs on their war shields to represent triumphant head-hunters.

Samoa

Flying foxes are perceived as protectors and saviours in Samoan folklore. According to legend, Samoan Princess Leutogi befriended and warned flying foxes about the king's hunting plans. In return, the bats rescued her from being burned alive and also brought her food when she was stranded on an inhospitable island. She later bestowed the name "Tonumaipe'a" on her son, meaning "rescued by flying foxes".

For Samoan men, the pe'a—the local name for flying fox is a coming-of-age tattoo that extends From the waist to the knee, symbolising protection over a warrior.

The Samoan war god Sepo took the form of a flying fox to guide his people in battle. If they saw a flying fox ahead, it meant victory would be theirs; if it flew back towards them it was a warning to retreat.

Australia

Flying foxes were important animals to the Aboriginal people of Cape York, Australia, and a common feature in their prehistoric rock art.

Folklore of the Aboriginal Wik in Australia tells of two brothers who broke taboo by spearing and cooking flying foxes. The bats escaped and carried the boys up into the sky as punishment, leaving them there to serve as a grim reminder now immortalised in the Gemini constellation!

Link to open access article of the research:

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

The Painted Woolly Bat (Kerivoula picta): this bat species has a stunning orange-and-black appearance

Kerivoula picta is commonly known as the painted woolly bat, thanks to its strikingly colorful appearance and thick, curly fur. Researchers believe that its orange coloration might actually serve as camouflage, to some extent, as it has been reported that the bats can easily blend in with dried leaves and flowers when they are roosting.

For several months each year, these bats form small family units that generally contain two adults and one pup. They often reconnect with the same reproductive partner over multiple breeding seasons.

This species is increasingly threatened by the international demand for so-called "bat décor:"

... painted woolly bats (Kerivoula picta) are collected and killed in their native habitat in South and Southeast Asia and sold as décor globally. The United States is a major and growing market for this trade: The U.S. has imported hundreds of painted woolly bats over recent years. As this species is not bred in captivity, all the bats are taken from the wild.

Painted woolly bat populations are declining. The International Union for Conservation of Nature assessed the species as “near threatened,” yet few nations within the species’ range offer the bats effective protection from killing. The bats live in China, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Given that they only produce one offspring at a time, painted woolly bats are particularly vulnerable to trade. Scientists have been raising concerns about the potential harms of the bat décor trade for nearly a decade, yet the market has only grown. Online listings offering painted woolly bats for sale are plentiful on major ecommerce websites.

This article provides more information about the threats that this species is currently facing and the ongoing efforts to protect it.

Sources & More Info:

Bat Conservation International: Kerivoula picta

Thai National Parks: Painted Bat

Mammal Study: The Ecology and Monogamous System of the Painted Woolly Bat, Kerivoula picta

Ecology and Evolution: Bat Mating Systems

Cambridge University Press: Growing Concern Over Trade in Bat Souvenirs from Southeast Asia

European Journal of Wildlife Research: Dying for Décor

Center for Biological Diversity: Endangered Species Act Protections Sought for Painted Woolly Bats

Center for Biological Diversity: Going to Bat for Painted Woolly Bats

UC Davis: E-Sales of a Wild Bat Sold as Décor Threaten Species

[some-places]

flying foxes

[chaimeu]

I made that post about the bloo perfume a day ago and y'allll there are SOOOO much merchandise I really want. There's a bat, shoelaces, slippers, keychains, bruh there's like an employee exclusive sweatshirt that's bloo themed with his eyes on top of the hoodie. I NEED ALL OF IT

[snototter]

An Indian flying fox (Pteropus medius) stretches on a branch in Fonimagoodhoo, Maldives

by Gary Faulkner

[bunjywunjy]

Im not gonna lie I genuinely was shocked to see you post a vulture culture post. Not that im not pleased! But of all the blogs I follow, Yours was not a suspect until I saw your name at the top.

it's not a thing I'm into myself but I am adjacent to many people who are into it and I sure can appreciate a good skull

[jadeseadragon]

Tacca chantrieri, the Black Bat Flower

A species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae. First described in 1901 by Édouard André. The bat flower has unique pollination method in that it is mostly autonomous self pollinating. T. chantrieri is native to southeastern Asia.

[infinitiumme]

The white and black ‘bat flower’ (Tacca integrifolia) (Tacca chantrieri)

[bl00doodle]

Sorry no art lately ive been star railing insanely for weeks now

[daily-batposting]

Hardwicke's Woolly Bat, photographed by Chien C. Lee, (source)

[loveisinthebat]

Glamour shot

[coffeenuts]

[terresdebrume]

You might have answered this before, like this may be a known thing on your blog, but are you out as trans at work,and if not, do they think you're a cis guy, or a cis woman? I am really interested in your personal posts about your students and the various cultural shit at play, and the ones you've tried to support in various ways regarding queer issues and super conservative traditional families. and also about your desire to have a baby, which presumably work would know about. So I was just wondering if you were Mr Matt at work, or not? I am looking to travel and I have no idea of the level of acceptance by employers in Asian countries. Obviously feel free to ignore this if it isn't something you want to disclose but I've been wondering for a while.

Hey :D

I don't mind the question at all :D

I am out at work kind of by necessity because I haven't changed my legal name yet nor started any kind of medical transition... So like, practically speaking, in terms of visual, more people read me as a soft butch woman than a guy, and I regularly correct students who accidentally misgender me for various reasons x)

But I am Mr. Matt and the students don't know any other name for me, and my colleagues probably don't clock my deadname too much when it's left on internal documents so I'm more or less 'eh' about it xD

In terms of practicality, it's important to keep in mind that I am a white foreigner who makes almost 8 times the median salary every month, which affords me a LOT of leeway! Also the existence of trans people doesn't seem to have penetrated the Cambodian collective consciousness the way it has the European or American mind, so a lot of people haven't had the opportunity to form a lot of prejudice.

Because of that, I feel like for a lot of people they just see me as doing my weird foreigner thing and largely ignore it xD I also rely a decent bit on being a low maintenance trans guy: I pick my battles about the way people gender me and generally feel okay just like. Ignoring a lot of instances. I don't know that things would go as well, professionally, if I were to demand changes more forcefully.

Another thing worth noting re: Cambodia is that as far as I know there isn't really any legal framework to protect me against discrimination. Part of the reason why I stay in my school despite some shit that makes me angry is that I'm reasonably sure things will go fine overall, bc I've proven I was a good employee and we've had no scandal about me (well, apart from that one kid who was taken out of my class for discriminatory reasons)

Like, for the baby thing, I'm not too worried about *getting* the pregnancy leave or about not getting my job back when I'm done (although I'm aware that if they chose to do that I won't have any recourse) but more about things like "but how are we going to tell the parents about that???"

(Which ftr my preference goes to matter of fact honesty)

All that said: my school is also more culturally and ethnically diverse than most other schools for various reasons, which also influences the way I'm perceived in a major way. Most of my friends are also teachers and queer, and things have been fine for them overall, but they're also all cis so idk how it would play out if they were trans

As for traveling, well. I always do recommend at least looking up if your particular brand of queer is illegal where you want to go (it's not illegal in Cambodia), because you want to know where things stand before you land for sure! But at the same time, transphobia and queerphobia exist everywhere, it's not like there's a place where we can go where no asshole will find you, it's more a matter of like. Do you feel safe in your environment and can you be happy there—and a LOT of that is going to be a very case by case thing, I think

Also my personal philosophy on that is that if I stop going to places where there's transphobia I can't go to my parents' houses anymore so, you know. I stay flexible xD

ETA: Another thing I should add is that I'm 173cm and currently weight 96kg. I tower over and am significantly heavier than most of the Asian men I meet, and that also is its own layer of safety! And I mean, there are moments where I don't feel fully safe here, but it's mostly a gender neutral feeling (ie: drive by robbery is common here and sometimes I don't feel safe from it, but I don't feel like my gender identity plays into that)

But like, from a specific queer standpoint, the only time I felt unsafe as a trans guy, was that time I went to a friend's going away lunch and somebody's +1 (an expat) said he'd go full on mass shooter if a drag queen were to enter his nephew's school and was met with resounding silence from the other expats there, including my friends

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pooja chauka kyun diya re