Photo: Dan Bashakov/AP.
A volunteer of the Ukrainian bat rehabilitation center shows the wing of a rescued bat to people before returning bats to the wild in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 4, 2026.
I wonder how some celebrations emerge and become yearly events. Do they start with one person or family being excited about something — perhaps the return of a certain bird in spring — and the next thing you know, a whole community is having annual cookouts and parades?
Derek Gatopoulos and Vasila Stepanenko at the Associated Press and have a story about an annual celebration in Ukraine, war or no war.
“As night falls over a nature park on the edge of Kyiv,” they write, “children crowd around volunteers who carefully open cloth bags and release bats into the twilight.
“As each one takes flight, snapping through the air, more than 1,000 spectators cheer and applaud — families, off-duty soldiers, and bat enthusiasts, a few dressed in Goth outfits.
“Hundreds of bats, many rescued from war-torn areas in the east of the country, were released [in April] at one of multiple events around Ukraine planned to coincide with the arrival of spring.
“ ‘This is important for us as an organization because these are on a red list of endangered animals. Preserving them is very important,’ said Anastasiia Vovk, a volunteer at the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center, which organized the release. All 28 bat species in Ukraine are listed as protected animals due to declining populations.
“For many attendees, the event offered welcome relief and an excuse for a family outing after a harsh winter marked by subzero temperatures, nightly Russian drone and missile attacks and crippling power cuts.
“Late Saturday, children, many wearing bat-themed T-shirts and hats, watched as volunteers fed the animals mealworms with tweezers before letting them go. Some were allowed to wear gloves and handle the bats themselves.
“ ‘Life goes on despite the war,’ said Oleksii Beliaiev, a 54-year-old Kyiv resident who attended with his family. … Beliaiev runs a small printing business and spends time volunteering for army projects.
“The war has displaced animals as well as people. Buildings destroyed by shelling damage bats’ shelters, and explosions terrify the tiny mammals, experts say.
“ ‘In winter, bats hibernate, and if they are disturbed, they can die. They reproduce slowly — one or two offspring per year — so populations recover very slowly,’ said Alona Shulenko, who headed Saturday’s release. ‘As natural hibernation sites disappear, bats move into cities, into cracks in buildings and balconies. But repairs or destruction of these places can kill entire colonies,’ she said.
“All Ukrainian bat species are insect-eating and legally protected. … The charity says it has rescued more than 30,000 in total, including 4,000 bats last winter.
“ ‘We are all living in wartime, and everyone has their own struggles,’ Shulenko said. ‘But we are doing what we know best. … If we stop what we are doing, thousands of bats will die.’ ” More at AP, here.
I know some of you may be thinking, “Ugh. I really don’t like bats!” So I can’t leave this topic without saying a word about why bats are important.
Much of the information below applies to bats globally, not just in the US.
“Few of nature’s animals are as misunderstood as bats. We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [FWS] want to set the record straight and help others understand the importance of bats. Though often feared and loathed as sinister creatures of the night, bats are vital to the health of our environment and our economy. …
“Bats play an essential role in pest control, pollinating plants and dispersing seeds. Recent studies estimate that bats eat enough pests to save more than $1 billion per year in crop damage and pesticide costs in the United States corn industry alone. Across all agricultural production, consumption of insect pests by bats results in a savings of more than $3 billion per year. While many bats eat insects, others feed on nectar and provide critical pollination for a variety of plants like peaches, cloves, bananas and agaves. In fact, bats are the sole pollinator for the agave plant, a key ingredient in tequila! A third bat food source is fruit, leading to yet another important role in the ecosystem – seed dispersal. Fruit-eating bats can account for as much as 95% of the seed dispersal responsible for early growth in recently cleared rainforests.
“Unfortunately, bats are declining across the globe. Many bats are needlessly killed because people do not understand the important role bats play in a healthy ecosystem. For bats that hibernate in caves, the need for winter shelter during hibernation puts them at another disadvantage. Human activity resulting in loss of habitat and disruptions during hibernation are detrimental. Making matters worse, a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has claimed the lives of more than 5 million bats since its discovery in 2006 and has spread across North America at alarming rates. …
“Across the continent, we’re working with partners to protect bats, research treatments to halt the spread of white-nose syndrome and raise awareness about just how incredible, and vulnerable, bats are. More than 15 bat species are currently listed as federally endangered, threatened or under review in the candidate or petition process under the Endangered Species Act. … One recent study led to the discovery of a large summer roost for Indiana bats in Missouri — a single tree was providing refuge to more than 150 endangered Indiana bats!”
More at FWS, here.
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