Bats need this type of warm cave, and so few are known that it is essential to protect any we find. As a bonus, the boa, an endangered species, is most abundant in this area. The efforts of the government and private groups are necessarily the first steps in safeguarding bats and other wildlife populations on the island. However, the full weight of this task can't rest solely on their shoulders, as manpower and budgetary limitations will inevitably set limits on what they can achieve. Any lasting future for Puerto Rico's long-misunderstood bats will come only with widespread support for conservation, a concept still fairly alien in the culture.
Environmental education is imperative.
With luck, someday not too far into the future, I will get stares of disbelief and disgust when I relate my childhood bat-bashing stories to the next generation of Puerto Ricans. Journal of Mammalogy , Vol. Ciudadanos del Karso Urb. This species forms its large lips into a megaphone shape to transmit sound. A Jamaican fruit-eating bat mother flies with her newborn pup in tow.