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Our goal is that, once she is ready and comfortable, we will release her into the rest of Jungle World with our colony so she can be with the other bats. Our Rodrigues flying fox colony is just past this gate. There's one right above us. I'm hanging fruit skewers for the fruit bats. I try to choose places where they can easily reach the fruit. Can you see that there's one right there? The great thing about Rodrigues' flying foxes is that they are very large and their features are clearly visible. I mean, they look like foxes or dogs. Rodrigues flying foxes are found on Rodrigues Island, in Mauritius, and are a critically endangered species. One of
our main goals here at the Bronx Zoo is to work to ensure the future of the species. Last year we introduced a new group of male bats to our breeding group here. We have a couple of babies and one is watching us right in front of the light. The new males adapted very well and a week and a half ago our caretakers were surprised to find a flying fox pup on the floor of the enclosure. Here you go. The young usually cling to their mother for a while. So, finding a baby on the ground means that it fell or that its mother wasn't taking care of it. We're not going to find out who the mother is because she's already gone back to the
other bats. The baby is weak and perhaps wasn't nursing. Therefore, there are many reasons why she had to go to the health center. Oh, good morning. Hello. The official name of the baby bat is Barbara Gordon. In the Batman television series of the late 1960s, Barbara Gordon was Batgirl's real name. Hey, are you a good girl? When the baby arrived at the health center, it was determined that she was in good general condition. But since we don't know who the mother is, we made the decision to hand-raise her. So my role is to be a surrogate mom or a really cool aunt. I know. We have to try to get as close as possible to what Mom would do.
Mom would keep the baby bat clean. It has to happen. There will be no dirty bats. That's better. And then I have a piece of cloth that I'm going to wrap it in. I'll start at the corner. And just like a burrito, we wrap it up. This is the bat burrito. It is really designed to mimic mom's wings, providing comfort and a thermal barrier to keep the baby warm. I always test it before giving it to him to see how hot it is. And he 's not sucking on the nipple, he's licking, which is perfectly fine. That's better. That is. I think you're finished. These little ones are very special to me. Everything about them is interesting, it's different. I simply find them very charming.
Baby bats, when they are with their mother, always cling to her. You like that, Mom. I know. So these tights are the closest thing to mom we can get. You are a good girl. Yes. And the goal upon leaving the health center is to successfully reintroduce her to her native colony at Jungle World. I am generally satisfied with their progress. See you later. But it's very important that it starts flapping its wings more. He needs to strengthen his muscles, because if he doesn't , he can't fly. So, taking it out of the incubator a little bit each day will hopefully make it start flapping its wings. Good. Good morning. Barbara Gordon has been very active in the incubator, looking around and
stretching her wings. He wants to do something more. She thinks, "Hey, what's going on outside this incubator?" Hello. I know. The first step in exercising her outside the incubator is to take her to a place where she has more freedom of movement. We are going to build the exercise/hammock area for bats. I made a bunch of different bat moms. It's all about options for her. As we know, moms come in all shapes and sizes. Doesn't everyone act like a bat when they watch TV at night? Because I do. So. In Jungle World, the trees move. Things are moving. So it's not stationary like the incubator.
This is your big moment. So, let's go to the hammock. Very exciting. And I'm going to put it there. And it's already secured. And that's where vocalization comes in. What's happening? Where are you? Being upside down is being right side up. She knows she can move through space. Hearing new things, smelling new things, and seeing new things is another part of the goal. Look how brave you're being. Very, very brave. He's really venturing out. Hey, flapping. You're flapping your wings. It's flapping its wings. It's really great. I had never, ever seen her do that before. Bird wings only have one pair of joints to extend or contract. Bats, on the other hand, have the same bones as human hands. This gives them an idea of
how bat wings shape airflow and allow them great agility in flight. When she's really good at using the hammock, we'll take her out of the incubator full-time. But it has n't reached that level yet. There are some bats in the ficus tree. And one right above us. It will be very exciting when Barbara Gordon arrives at Jungle World. Because this is the same exhibit where they found her. This is where she will eventually be introduced to all the bats. I hope she's a little nervous at first when she gets here. It's very different from the health center. She's never really met another bat since she was a baby, so we don't want to just put her on display and leave her to fend for herself
. We want to go step by step. You know, she's a baby. Where are you? What do you think? Hello. Will you come here? Come on, smart girl. Come on. Who is so clever? We've been making progress in getting Barbara Gordon used to some of the sensory things she'll experience when she moves to Jungle World. So we're getting her used to the sounds. The radio turns on and off and is just background ambient noise, because this room is very quiet and Jungle World, being a public exhibit, is very noisy. We've also been slowly introducing her to being lightly sprayed with water. The humidity at Jungle World is significantly higher than here at the Wildlife Health Center. That's why we try to get her used to higher humidity. See how agile it is now?
It's amazing how much more he uses the vine now. I mean, that's like a real bat. Right? Isn't it great? She's a big girl now. We also continued with flight training. She's quite active today. So I'll put on a fleece jacket. Fleece is easier to grip than regular cotton fabric. Ready to fly? Hello. And what she really wants to do is, remember, what's right is upside down. So I am like a big fruit tree. That's all. I'll be happy when he leaves because then he'll meet other bats. That's the goal. Very good. Ready to move it? Ready to move it. Ready
to begin? Ready to be a bat? Barbara Gordon has been here for 3 months. Today is a very good day. Today we're moving Barbara Gordon from the health center to the Jungle World exhibit. Hello. OK. List? It's a great moment. Yes. They are all the emotions you can imagine. I'm proud that she did so well. She'll make new friends, she'll learn to fly, but I won't be able to see her every day anymore. And I'm not going to cry. Very good. Ready to go? OK. It's very difficult to maintain balance. I know. Very good. What happened? The car stopped. The last time I saw her was the day we found her and she was this size. It's bigger.
Yes, she looks very pretty. We've done everything we can to prepare her, and I'm very interested to see how she reacts to the adult bats, to see the large exhibits, and to hear all the sounds. Look at that. Good girl. His ears are at their maximum. And he's just looking around. No, she shows no signs of distress. Scratch your head. Very good. Look at that little face. Okay, let's go in. And let it do its thing. OK. Ceremonial presentation of the sock mom.
're just starting to acclimate her to the building, so she's still in her small enclosure within the pergola. Bye. Be a bat. Look what they're doing. Our pergola enclosure is interesting. We have Cricket Bat. She used to go down to the public area a little more than we liked, so she's there now. He's there with Lucky. She had a broken wing at some point and she's doing very well, but it healed a little crooked. And we have Split Lip, an additional male I think they will be a very good introduction to the life of bats for Barbara Gordon. There are still many obstacles to overcome, but we will face them one at a time.
I'll keep visiting Barbara Gordon for a while. Hello. I want him to fully and seamlessly integrate into his new environment with his new bat friends. That's Cricket. Are you ready? Come on, baby. Good girl. I know that the caregivers will do everything possible to make her feel comfortable and safe, and give her every opportunity to grow and reach her full potential. The pergola is for bats like Barbara that are not yet on display. We use it as a space for the bats to become familiar with the environment, get used to the presence of other bats, and, once ready, we let them out into the exhibit. Hello,
Barbara. It's time. Barbara Gordon is a baby bat. We found it one morning last year on the floor of the bat exhibit. We couldn't identify her mother, so we took her to our Animal Health Center to hand-raise her. That's better. When he became a little more self-sufficient, he returned here to our pergola area. He learned to live with the bats that were here. We spent a lot of time working with her. Barbara Gordon's Flight School. Come on. Good. Yes. Come on. And we are preparing for its next step, which will be to be on display. She's become mischievous. That is. Silly Barbara. Okay, are you ready? You don't know what we're doing. Hi guys. Alright. I
only go in for a second. I've always loved bats. I love working with them. People imagine terrifying bats from horror movies chasing you and wanting to bite your neck. I don't think people know that there are bats that eat fruit. They even like flowers. Sometimes we bring them to Barbara because she likes them a lot. We built a small enclosure inside the exhibit because we don't want to just release a new animal, as it could cause aggression in the other bats. I like all the interaction. That's great. Look, he's even looking at her and sniffing her. She doesn't seem very worried. He's minding his own business. We want to keep an eye on her and make sure she's safe and comfortable, and that the other bats also
feel comfortable with her in their space not after the fruit up there, so he's either looking for her or, yes, the flowers. But I saved him a big piece for later, so he'll have enough. Our goal is that, when she is ready and comfortable, she will be released into the rest of Jungle World with our colony and can be with all the other bats. We always put out fruit so the other bats know they should come down. Hopefully they'll meet Barbara Gordon and then everyone can have something to eat, share, and have a snack. She's been living in the pergola for several months, so today's the day we'll let her out. It's going to be a very big bat. It's your big day, Barbara. Instead of releasing it into
this entire space without an acclimatization period, this has given us a gradual release process. Let's give it some time. We're just giving him a chance to settle in, eat a little, get comfortable, and then we'll open the door. We hope more bats will come down and be nearby when we release her, so she has someone to live with, which seems to be what they are doing. Okay, sorry, bats. Hello, miss. I thought he would have jumped right away. It's like, wait, are you guys serious? It's a large exhibitor that offers many new challenges. All the different sights and sounds of Jungle World. I mean, it's a lot of stimulation. A lot of
things happen down here. We can slow down this process if necessary, but it all depends on how she responds. What do you think? Hello. Good job. It's out now. Look at how she's doing. Go ahead, Barbara. That was her "I'm going to fly to you" face. When he returned from the health center, we spent a lot of time teaching him how to develop his flight muscles. "I will do that". "I will do that". "No, not yet." I wonder if he's watching the other bats fly and thinking, "Ah, that's why they made me fly." You have to let her go at some point. There are about eight bats. You know, everyone's
watching each other. I think they're inspecting it. She seems comfortable, and it's all part of her process of learning to socialize appropriately. He is resting his head on the branch. I feel like he's going to have a great best friend. Yes. A year ago we found Barbara Gordon and started this whole process. A year later, we have Barbara back in the display case where she belonged.
