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Zoo creates bat-friendly garden

Jersey Zoo A sign is pictured within the garden. It is on a wooden stick and the sign is shaped like a bat. It reads "Bat Garden" in a large white font.Jersey Zoo
The garden has been decorated with 30 pre-loved wooden bats

Jersey Zoo has created a bat-friendly garden to help support local bat species and their habitats.

The space, which was unveiled during Bat Week, features bee and bug hotels, plants to encourage insects, and 30 colourful wooden bats which were painted by a local nursery.

Created by the zoo's keepers and site services team, the garden highlights features that people can add to their own outdoor spaces.

Mammal keeper Nicola Shaw said: "The space where we created our bat-friendly garden was an area that hadn't been used for anything for a few years, so it was the perfect spot to keep our local island bats happy and healthy."

Jersey Zoo Mammal Keeper Nicola Shaw is looking at the bats on the netting.Jersey Zoo
Mammal keeper Nicola Shaw said the garden is a "perfect spot"

Bat Week is an international event designed to raise awareness about the need for bat conservation.

The garden is located near the zoo’s Bat Island Roost, which is home to an estimated 8% of the total global Livingstone’s fruit bat population.

Ms Shaw added: "Loving bats as much as I do and getting to work with the Livingstone’s fruit bats means I get an insight into their world and understand just how much these incredible animals contribute to our environment."

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