**4. Southwest Asia**

In southwest Asia, bat folklore has been documented between Iran, India, and Myanmar [25–27]. In southwest Asia, the bat is predominantly perceived as a strange, negative, and demonic animal that should be avoided. Usually, it is regarded as a bad omen even if seen in a dream. The bat is a devil who flies only in the night because it would die if flying in the daytime [25].

In India, a total of 3059 high school students from 36 schools were questioned on their bat perceptions. Most students (56%) reported seeing bats in their locality. Half of the students knew that bats are mammals, but 26% believed them to be birds, some thought of them being amphibians (12%) or reptiles (11%); 37% disliked the bats, and 27% liked them remaining seeing them as indifferent. A substantial proportion (53%) thought that bats have medicinal value, but 35% saw them only as harmful creatures. They were believed to destroy trees and damage fruits in gardens. Over half of the students (57%) did not know anybody in their neighborhood who would hunt bats. The felling of roosting trees was mentioned as bat death reason by 29% and hunting by 18%. Most students wanted to participate in bat conservation activities, including some students who disliked bats. The study concluded that conservationrelated education should be included in the school curriculum to ensure that students would appreciate not only the importance of bats but of all wildlife [26].

Bats are also revered throughout India. In Madurai, worshippers of the Muni god regard Indian Flying Fox *Pteropus medius,* formerly *Pteropus giganteus,* as sacred and protect colonies for fear of heavy punishment. However, after offering prayers, dead bats found on the ground can be eaten. In Pudukkottai, roosting *P. medius* is seen as the guardian of the sacred groves, and in Bihar, that bat brings wealth. Orchard owners in Myanmar believe that allowing bats to roost and feed in the garden ensures prosperity and well-being. Flying fox's emergence time is believed in Myanmar to indicate the weather: an early or no emergence foretells a coming storm. Bats are also used as allegories to denote romantic or parental love in the poetry of Tamil Sangam literature in India [27–29].

In Hunza, Pakistan, a witch appears in the shape of a bat, and it plays a role in magical practice in southwest Asia. In the Punjab, northern India, magicians use bat bones to prepare their concoctions, and with the bat blood, they write amulets for malevolent and antisocial magic. Between Iran and Rajasthan, north-western India, there is the widespread public belief that if a bat lives somewhere in the house or hangs on the roof, this would mean bad luck for the owner [25]. In Pakistan, one belief is that if a bat enters one's ear, it can never be removed and contact with bat urine is thought to cause eczema. On the other hand, the body fat of Indian Flying Fox is used to make massage oil to cure rheumatic pains, while drinking water from a bat's wing is said to sharpen one's memory [30]. In Sri Lanka, it is believed that one may be reincarnated as a bat for denying another person drinking water [31].

Pre-Islamic magical belief in Hunza said that "if the lady would once offer the cooked meat of bat to her guests, hiding it behind her back while serving" her family would never be without meat for their whole life [25]. Interestingly, Islamic taboo,

considers bat as *harām* meaning that it is forbidden as food. The official Islamic view is exempting bats from being killed because it would carry bad luck to kill a bat [32]. One reason not to kill bats is that "female bats have breasts and are mothers like human females" [25].

Bats are also seen as useful in Iran, India, and Pakistan because people are collecting bat guano as a natural fertilizer.

### **5. Southeast Asia**

Throughout Southeast Asia, bats are associated with luck and good fortune and used as spiritual totems [6, 27]. Since the fourteenth century, Chinese culture has regarded bats as lucky animals, and these blessing bat symbols have been prevalent in

#### *Bats in Folklore and Culture: A Review of Historical Perceptions around the World DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102368*

Chinese arts over the centuries [33]. In Indonesia, farmers in South Sulawesi believe that flying foxes roosting near their rice fields guarantee a good harvest [27]. Similarly, fishermen in the Philippines consider mangrove roosting flying foxes to be guardians of their fishing grounds and to increase fish and shellfish catch [27]. In Malaysian Borneo, people consider it taboo to disturb a fruit bat. If a man whose wife is nearing childbirth unthinkingly does so, some harm may befall the unborn baby [34].

In Malaysia, a face-to-face survey was conducted in Penang Island to assess knowledge and awareness level toward bat conservation efforts. The bat populations in Malaysia are decreasing in 26% of species and only 15% are still stable. Bats are shot for sport or to eradicate them from fruit plantations. Bats are also considered as wild exotic meat, which is widely consumed in urban areas. Besides hunting, the primary threats to bat species include habitat loss and degradation through logging. Most respondents were less likely to value the importance of bats in the ecosystem, so creating a conservation education to connect people with nature is not easy. The oldest age group (51–70 years old) of 150 respondents were mostly aware of the bat conservation efforts. The higher level of education was not always reflected in the positive attitudes toward environment and wildlife issues. Participation by local people is vital to achieving successful conservation programs [35].

Iban people in Sarawak, Borneo, believe that a bat flying into the house indicates a shaman bringing good vibes, conferring protection against any harm, while in Thailand, if a bat enters a house but immediately flies away, it is believed to change bad luck to good. Should the bat stay and eat the fruit in the house, bad luck will befall the owner [27].

In northern Thailand, harming bats incurs a curse because bats are sacred for Buddhists [36]. In Irian Jaya of Indonesia, former head-hunters considered flying foxes to be head-hunters too, as they took the "head" of the tree by consuming its fruit [37].

Despite positive associations toward bats, they are widely consumed as food and medicine throughout Asia, except in Brunei and Singapore. In Malaysia, ethnic Han Chinese, non-Muslim indigenous groups, and ethnic Malays hunt flying foxes and trade them to the Chinese [27]. In Indonesia, Iban people in Kalimantan also hunt

#### **Figure 3.**

*Bats for eating in the Laos marketplace. Photo credit: Stan Delone "creative common"—Wikimedia. https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode.*

fruit bats for consumption, and mainly Christian people in North Sulawesi regularly eat flying foxes (Black Flying Fox *Pteropus alecto* and Sulawesi Fruit Bat *Acerodon celebensis*) especially during the Christmas season [38, 39].

There exists a widespread belief in Southeast Asia that eating bat meat cures asthma [27]. In many parts of Indonesia, people specifically consume bats' livers and hearts as medicine [39]. In Thailand, bat meat or blood is eaten for muscle pain, increasing virility and longevity [36]. In Malaysia, older generations prevented thievery by mixing flying fox blood with milky mangrove *Excoecaria agallocha* tree sap to cause violent intestinal inflammation [40].

In Vietnam, many mounted bat species are sold in souvenir shops, and in Laos, bats are traded in several markets (**Figure 3**) [41, 42]. There is a Japanese word for bat, *komori*, which is said to mean "mosquito slaughterer." In Japanese mythology, very old bats can transform into *nobusuma*, spirit animals resembling flying squirrels that land on their victims' faces at night to feed off blood [43]. Indigenous Ainu people in Japan worshipped the crafty and wise bat god *Kappa kamui,* who kept away demons and diseases [44].
