Juliana Adeola Labiran

Author

Juliana Adeola Labiran | Leventis African Biodiversity Fellow 2024

Back in my home country Nigeria, witnessing a sea turtle held in captivity along the shores of a Lagos beach, about to be killed for bushmeat, ignited my passion for wildlife conservation. This experience fueled my desire to be a voice for wildlife, especially for vulnerable species and their habitats. My commitment was further solidified when I discovered how beneficial bats are to humans.

Bats are witches, that's the belief I was raised with. My mother used to make sure that a bat did not escape our house alive whenever one happened to come in. She stated they were a warning that horrible things were about to happen and that she would stop the evil by killing the bats, who were the evil's messengers. I'd always wondered how it was possible, but I never really had a satisfactory response, nor did I know how to debunk the myth until I volunteered, out of curiosity, at my University for a bat monitoring program, which unveiled the beautiful world of bats and the need to conserve them.

Recognizing that there are many false beliefs about bats and that, while they are hunted and regarded as a source of protein in certain houses, they are also the subject of many negative myths. Understanding their ecology and ways of adapting would be necessary for me to effectively advocate for them.