QQ Bat Education Project

Our sincere thanks to Thokoane Makauta Secondary School for their contribution and co-operation with our bat awareness project. We hope students enjoy our token of appreciation🙏

Join us as we look at the various bat work done by students around Africa,,, 2024

Speaker Announcement for !

We're thrilled to announce our first keynote speaker for AfriPopo Student Indaba 2024, taking place online on the 13th and 14th of November!

Introducing Monday Veli Mdluli, a PhD student at the University of the Free State (QwaQwa Campus). Monday’s research explores the impact of climate change, human activities, and perceptions on the bat communities of the Maloti Drakensberg grassland.

Want to learn more about his fascinating work and how to join us at the Indaba? Click here to find out more 👇 https://www.batswithoutborders.org/afripopo_student_indaba.html

We are excited to present six students from three schools with a copy of our recently released children's bat book. These are students who won best artwork and their art was incoporated into our book entitled "QwaQwa's Heroes After Sunset". Thanks to the teachers who made this event a reality.🦇🦇

QwaQwa's Heroes After Sunset is a captivating tale set at the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains at a place called QwaQwa. It follows the adventure of a ten year old boy who befriends a bat and in the process learns why bats are so crucial for our environment. The community elders however, misguided by their misconceptions about these small mammals turn the boy's dream of having bats and humans coexist in the area into a nightmare. It takes a courageous effort by the bats and the faith of the Chief in their ecosystem services to finally convince the community of the importance of accepting bats in the area.

Thanks to Veli Mdluli presenting the QQ Bat Education Project to the Department of Zoology & Entomology competition at University of the Free State QwaQwa 👏

Watch this space for news of the book soon! 📖

UFS doctoral student authors bat-centred children’s book

Monday Veli Mdluli, a PhD student of Prof Peter Taylor, Professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of the Free State (UFS), wrote a children’s book about bats as part of an environmental education project.

Through this project, which started in late 2021, Mdluli has so far been able to conduct bat awareness classes and engagement research in four schools in Phuthaditjhaba and one primary school in Clarens.

According to Mdluli, the book itself is a fiction story that seeks to teach the reader more about bats. Despite being fiction, there are a lot of accurate scientific facts that teach about the value of bats in the environment. It is guaranteed to keep the readers entertained while learning at the same time.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3MWSC5D

Check out this great post by BatsKZN - The Bat Interest Group of KwaZulu Natal for more information on the pros and cons of bat boxes 🦇🦇👇

Meet the organising team!
Veli Mdluli is a PhD student at the University of the Free State with the Mountain Bat Lab! With climate change and anthropogenic pressures in Afromontane grasslands, he believes that bat and other biodiversity research in these ecosystems is more important than ever! Before joining the ARU Bat Lab, he was with the University of Eswatini where he obtained his MSc. in Conservation Ecology. As a young scientist, he looks to spread awareness on the significance of conservation of the precious African biodiversity with a strong interest in bats. Check out the rest of the team here https://www.batswithoutborders.org/afripopo_student_symposium.html