**9. Fear of bats**

An irrational fear of bats—Chiroptophobia—encompasses negative perceptions of bats as disease vectors, pests, or harmful creatures associated with devils and witchcraft, which represents an important barrier to bat conservation globally [27]. Especially Western cultural associations of bats with evil spirits, which have been recorded in Christian tradition as early as the fourteenth century [68] along with current media sensationalizing bats and the COVID-19 pandemic, are major hindrances toward bat conservation [69], although there is no reason why public health messages cannot be consistent with bat conservation.

In Western culture, bats are also associated with vampires causing hysteria and wrong nomenclature of non-sanguivorous bat species such as Large Flying Fox *Pteropus vampyrus*. Despite its scientific name, it feeds exclusively on fruits, nectar, and flowers and not blood (**Figure 6**) [70].

Since the fourteenth century, Chinese culture has associated bats with good luck and blessings [33].

Even cultures that value bats positively may have values conflicting with bat conservation. Fruit growers may view fruit bats as crop pests [71]. Han Chinese people attach positive esthetic values to bats but may still hunt bats at unsustainable levels [72]. In India, bats are revered in many areas, but still large bat-harvesting festivals take place. In Nagaland between 7000 and 25,000 cave-dwelling bats (Cave Nectar

#### **Figure 6.**

*Large flying fox* Pteropus vampyrus *suffers from its misleading scientific name as it is not blood-eating species but feeds only fruits and flowers. Photo credit: Masteraah. "Creative commons"—Wikimedia. https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/legalcode.*

Bat *Eonycteris spelaea*, Great Roundleaf Bat *Hipposideros armiger*, and Leschenault's Rousette *Rousettus leschenaultii*) have been annually harvested until recently [73]. So, using positive symbolism alone to promote bat conservation might be insufficient without accounting for day-to-day relationships of local communities with bats. Conversely, negative symbolism could promote conservation if it prevents unsustainable hunting and consumption [27].

It is imperative to obtain more current ethnobiological data to further our understanding of contemporary attitudes and relationships with bats—and to document other cultural traditions not covered in this review.

### **10. Conclusion**

Cultural traditions and beliefs influence the future of the bats, which is threatened by human exploitation, both directly on bats and indirectly on the environment.

To summarize shortly the various findings: In the West, bats have been seen as animals of ill omen, alongside other nocturnal hunters such as owls and black cats. Around 62% of the Asia-Pacific people had only positive cultural values of bats, 8% had only neutral values, while 10% had only negative values [27]. The remaining cultures had combinations of positive, neutral, and negative values.

This suggests that the Asia-Pacific region and its cultures contain far more positive associations with bats than most European or American societies and, as such, offer promising examples and opportunities to promote human-bat coexistence. For example, a number of these countries are investing in the burgeoning industry of ecotourism by promoting organized visits to bat caves and "bat watching" [74, 75]. In 2005**, the privately owned** Montfort Bat Cave Sanctuary on Mindanao Island, south of the Philippines, opened for tourism. The five-chambered cave hosts the world's largest known colony of the Geoffroy's Rousette Fruit Bat, *Rousettus amplexicaudatus*, with an estimated 1.8–2 million individuals [76]. The tour includes a brief

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

20-minute conservation education lecture about bats, caves, and the history of the Montford Bat Cave Sanctuary. The cave prohibits hunting and guano harvesting, while income from this ecotourism chiefly flows into local economy and enhances the sustainability and protection of the cave site (**Figures 7** and **8**).

Our collection of global perceptions aims to promote a better biocultural richness for humans and bats as our long-term nocturnal companions. But it became obvious that the public attitude toward bats has still not been investigated extensively enough throughout the world, namely in contemporary Africa, America, Australia, and Europe.

#### **Figure 7.**

*Montfort bat cave entrance in the Philippines with the numerous Geoffroy's Rousette fruit bats* Rousettes amplexicaudatus*. Photo credit: [7] Roy Kabanlit "creative commons"—Wikimedia https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode.*

#### **Figure 8.**

*A close-up photo of the Geoffroy's Rousette fruit bats* Rousettes amplexicaudatus *at the Montfort bat cave entrance. Photo credit: Raniel Jose Castaneda "creative commons" – Wikimedia credit as in Figure 7.*

*Bats - Disease-Prone but Beneficial*
