A spectacle to wonder!
Between October and December each year, the bats descend into a tiny patch of evergreen swamp forest inside Kasanka National Park, northern Zambia. The African straw-coloured fruit bat is the second-largest fruit bat on the continent, can have a wingspan up to a metre, and the adults weigh up to 350g. They come to feast on the pod mahogany, musuku, mufinsa, milkwood1 and other wild fruit that appears with the first rains. Scientists are not entirely sure where these bats spend the rest of the year, though they do know that for some of them, it is somewhere deep in the rainforests of the Congo. The bats in Kasanka are at all different stages of the breeding cycle, with some mating, some in various stages of pregnancy, and some with young. It’s known from observation of individual colonies around Africa that these bats are seasonal and synchronise their breeding within the colony, so the diversity seen in Kasanka implies that they are coming from various areas.
The bats start arriving in Zambia’s Kasanka National Park towards the end of October. Their numbers steadily increase over the next few weeks. Mid-October to mid-December is the best time for the bats. By the end of December / beginning of January, the forest is bat free.
It’s not just the bats you will see at this time of the year. The rains bring green grass, bright flowers and plenty of migratory birds. Although Kasanka isn’t a place for the ‘Big Five’, you are almost guaranteed to see the rare and special sitatunga.
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Overview
Witness this unique spectacle with your loved ones! Over 10 million bats roam the forests of Kasanka National park between October to End of December. Learn about bird life and conservation!
