The Bat Man of Mexico

While at La Selva I had the good fortune to meet a bunch of bat enthusiasts who were there for a meeting on bat conservation. They were from around the world including Central America, South America, Kenya, Cameroon, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the United States. About 25 people. They are part of an organization called Global South Bats, a network of bat scientists and conservationists from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The meeting and much of the research was sponsored by National Geographic.

I first met two very nice women at dinner, one from Peru and one from Indonesia (doing her PhD at Cal). They were heading out that evening with the group and I asked if I could tag along. I saw three people ready to head out and joined them. Little did I know that the person leading the group was one of the world's foremost bat scientist and leading conservationist. His name is Rodrigo Medellin from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He has received numerous awards and recognition. The BBC produced a film about him called "The Bat Man of Mexico" (narrated by David Attenborough). National Geograhic also produced a documentary featuring him. The other two folks with us were from National Geographic. Earlier some helpers had set out some mist nets and we were going to see what they caught. The rest of the group arrived a bit later and it was fascinating watching how excited they were to find all these different bats, eleven species in total. (Just like botanists, there are disagreements in taxonomy between lumpers and splitters.) Another person with whom I had lunch was a leading conservationist from Kenya called Paul Webala. They were all very nice and I did not feel like I was intruding. Rodrigo approached me the next day and asked what I thought. We also talked a bit about forest research in Mexico. It was a very special experience.