Chennai: Paranoid Tower Park visitors set off crackers to scare bats – Times of India

Chennai News
CHENNAI: Some regular visitors to Tower Park at Anna Nagar have been bursting firecrackers every day for the past week to drive away bats that roost in the trees there. After animal rights activists complained, civic officials said they would prevent this.
“We have received many petitions over the past two years from residents in the area to relocate the bats. These people claimed that the noise from the bats and their fecal droppings disturbed walkers in the park. We have asked the forest department for its opinion,” said, regional deputy commissioner Sharanya Ari. She said the civic body had decided to put up a sheet in the walking area to protect walkers from bat droppings.

One of the walkers at the park, Vasantha, who shot the video of people bursting firecrackers and informed the police, “The park is meant for the bats too. They are not really harming anyone. By chasing them away from their natural habitat, these misinformed men are actually driving the bats to seek other shelters closer to homes.”
Sanjay Molur, executive director of Zoo Outreach, said bats rarely disturb humans during the day as they sleep most of the time. Droppings happen early in the morning or late in the evening. “But the idea of the sheet is a good one,” he said.
“These fruit bats found in the cities have a major role in afforestation. The germination chances after a seed goes through a bat gut is 90% higher than birds. “Bat droppings are rich in nitrogen and a good fertilizer,” said Molur, who has done his PhD on bats. He also said don’t make much noise unless disturbed.
There are at least 25 species of bats in the city and suburbs. “This is an exaggerated response. Bats don’t directly infect humans. There will always be an intermediary host such as palm sap for Nipah virus, pigs and other mammals,” he said.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/chennai-paranoid-tower-park-visitors-set-off-crackers-to-scare-bats/articleshow/85119211.cms