Bats navigate their world by interpreting the way their clicks echo off objects and spaces around them.
Description: The Ghost Bat has a light grey, almost white, colouring and large long ears. The Ghost Bat’s wing span is up to 60 cm wide.
Diet: It is Australia’s only carnivorous bat and eats large insects, reptiles, frogs, birds, small mammals and, sometimes, other bat species. Much of this prey is captured on the ground.
In the wild: Mothers form nursery colonies separate from males until the young are able to hunt. Juveniles then hunt with their mothers until they become completely independent.
Threats: Populations are under threat due to changes in habitat and destruction of caves and mine shafts that the bats live in. Groups of over 400 are common and populations would decrease if their homes were destroyed.
At Perth Zoo: Perth Zoo received its first Ghost Bat colony in 1977. Their descendants are located in the Nocturnal House in several exhibits including one which is a replica of an Australian mine shaft.
Perth Zoo's Ghost Bat exhibit is proudly supported by:
Did you Know?
Ghost Bats use echolocation to find their food. Echolocation is a sensory system where the bats emit a high-pitched sound and listen to the echo to determine how far and in what direction objects are.