Dark Knights of the Ruins
Vigilantes, not vermin... Jessica Luis and Aristo Mendis stumble upon the real life bat caves of an urban landscape...

Lesser Mouse-Tailed Bat(Rhinopoma hardwickii)

It was a typical sweltering Delhi noon and the class was walking through the lanes of Mehrauli on a field trip. We were being run through how the town looked once upon a time, where lakes and orchards once stood, and weaving in and out of forts and ruins left behind from a bygone era. By the time we came to Jahaz Mahal, everyone was looking up at the domes and admiring the architecture of the now abandoned building, and furiously scribbling notes and diagrams of corbelled arches and true arches.

Suddenly, out of the blue we saw a tiny bat hanging stealthily on the darker side of a wall. The Lesser Mouse Tailed Bat, had been there, unnoticed, while we were looking up at the ornate decorations of the impressive structure.

This got us wondering. How many of these elusive winged mammals do we unknowingly share our space with in this city? Where do we find them? What do they actually do? Do they just hang around monuments, hidden from sight during the day and then fly around to hunt at night? But most importantly, does anyone give a damn about them? So many questions and so few answers...

So we decided we'd do a little research of our own, in and around Delhi. Turned out Jahaz Mahal was not the only monument these creatures inhabited.

Bats are nocturna, l so we humans tend to interact minimally with them since we share different spaces and time frames, which is why we cloak them with a shroud of myth and mystery. They also live in abandoned areas, places that we humans tend to fear and neglect.

There are many places in this city where these winged mammals congregate, which may be known or unknown to us. Apparently on hot summer days, bats prefer to roost in the cool darkness of forts and ruins to escape the heat, before they go out to hunt at night.

The first was Khirki mosque in the heart of bustling Saket, New Delhi. It took us a while to find the now abandoned building amidst the winding lanes. When we finally got there, we asked some kids where the "Chamkadar" were. The pungent smell of guano and the rustling of wings was a giveaway. As we entered the cave, we had to duck as a hundred Lesser Mouse Tailed Bats whooshed over our heads.

For the next few hours we covered other historical monuments in Delhi that these bats may call home, like Agrasen ki Baoli and Humayun's tomb.

Armed with torches, we looked in damp dark places listening to high-pitched squeaking and the rustling of wings, surrounded, by the scent of guano. The number of bats we found that day was astounding. From hordes of lesser Mouse Tailed bats, to tiny shy Pipestrelles. They were hard to identify, which made us realize how little we know about these impressive creatures.

Bats happen to be the most species rich order of mammals in India. For instance, the felid order that includes the tiger and leopard has only fifteen species. In comparison, the order of bats or 'Chiroptera' in India sum up to more than 114 representative species. But surprisingly, there have been almost no studies done on them in our country.

A daunting fact that we came across is that, all bats in India except for Wroughton's Free-tailed Bat and Salim Ali's Fruit Bat are considered 'vermin' under Schedule V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. This has been criticised by a lot of naturalists.

We interviewed one of the very few people working on the bat fauna of Delhi, Sumit Dookia who teaches at the M.Sc. Biodiversity & Conservation course at GGS Indraprastha University, New Delhi. He is at present working on the status and taxonomy of bats in Delhi region.

If the vermin status is considered to be a hardbound fact, then what about the ecological importance that bats serve?

Bats in general are divided into two basic and generic groups - the first being comparatively large fruit-eating bats (Megachiroptera) and the second ones include all small insectivorous bats (Microchiroptera) with unique nose features. The large ones inhabit trees and open canopies. And these are the ones that usually aid in seed dispersal. The remaining bats are the ones that inhabit caves and old monumental structures. These ones are predominantly the ones who aid in pest control.

He thinks public opinion is very much against bats. And many a times, this is due to mythological grounds. "Some feel that bats can attack people and suck blood, but this too is not the apparent case. One of our motives is clear out these myths among the general populace", he says.

When we asked him about his opinion regarding the bats that share the urban landscape with humans in Delhi, he quotes, "So far bat fauna of Delhi has not yet been explored as such. I feel that the security of all major monuments is with ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) and bats belong under the purview of the forest department. One of the reasons no extensive studies have been done as of yet maybe due to the over-interference of ASI (Archeological Survey of India) and Forest Department in this matter.

The coordination between these two organizations also seems to be completely lacking."

While we may be far away from adapting trends in other places where people are exploring the likes of cave tourism and tolerance towards bats, we can probably try to co-exist with these creatures that share our urban space.

So next time you look up at the night sky, do try to notice these nocturnal vigilantes who live amongst you.