{"id":894262,"date":"2026-10-25T15:34:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T15:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894262\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T15:34:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T15:34:22","slug":"hawaii-wildlife-center-celebrates-bat-week-with-a-call-to-protect-the-endangered-native-species-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894262\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawai\u2018i Wildlife Center celebrates Bat Week with a call to protect the endangered native species : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Hawai\u2018i Wildlife Center is marking Bat Week, which runs Oct. 24 to 31, with a call to help protect \u2018\u014dpe\u2018ape\u2018a, the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat that is the state\u2019s only living native land mammal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite being rarely seen, the Hawaiian horary bat plays an important role in the islands\u2019 ecosystems by contributing to the health and balance of the environment. The bats are found throughout most of the main Hawaiian Islands, feeding on flying insects, particularly moths and beetles, according to the Hawai\u02bbi Wildlife Center.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The nocturnal animals face several threats, including loss of habitat, disturbance of their roosting areas, entanglement with barbed wire, and collisions with structures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Hawai\u02bbi Wildlife Center, located in Kapa\u02bbau on the Big Island, is a professional wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and conservation organization that provides emergency response and medical care of native birds and bats statewide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The center typically cares for just one or two Hawaiian hoary bats each year. They require timely and specialized attention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen a bat comes into our care, time is especially critical,\u201d Linda Elliott, the center\u2019s founder and CEO, said in the release. \u201cThey can become dehydrated quickly and have delicate wings, so getting them the right medical attention as soon as possible can make a difference in their recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bigislandnow.com\/file\/bigislandnow\/2026\/10\/Hawaiian-Hoary-Bat-Intake-.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Hawaiian-Hoary-Bat-Intake--1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Hawai&#x2BB;i Wildlife Center provides medical care for native birds and bats, including the &#x2018;&#x14D;pe&#x2018;ape&#x2018;a (Hawaiian hoary bat). (Photo courtesy: Hawai&#x2BB;i Wildlife Center)\" class=\"wp-image-450232\"\/><\/a>Hawai\u02bbi Wildlife Center provides medical care for native birds and bats, including \u2018\u014dpe\u2018ape\u2018a. (Photo courtesy: Hawai\u02bbi Wildlife Center)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The center encourages residents to be aware of downed or injured \u2018\u014dpe\u2018ape\u2018a but avoid handling or attempting to feed or give them water. For guidance, contact 808-884-5000 or birdhelp@hawaiiwildlifecenter.org.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Transportation of wildlife patients is provided by the center\u2019s Wheels for Wildlife and Wings for Wildlife programs, volunteer networks of drivers and pilots that transport patients to and from the center\u2019s hospital facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Residents are also encouraged to help protect \u2018\u014dpe\u2018ape\u2018a by recording sightings of the bat at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inaturalist.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">www.inaturalist.org<\/a> or through iNaturalist, a free mobile app where users can document wildlife observations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Uploaded photos and locations of bat sightings can help researchers better understand where \u2018\u014dpe\u2018ape\u2018a are found and identify habitats across the islands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hawai\u2018i Wildlife Center is marking Bat Week, which runs Oct. 24 to 31, with a call to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[137128,2027,192,173564,173565,79,23885],"class_list":["post-894262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-bat-week","tag-endangered-species","tag-environment","tag-hawaii-wildlife-center","tag-hawaiian-hoary-bat","tag-science","tag-wildlife-conservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}