Are sacred caves still safe havens for the endemic bats of Madagascar?

Abstract

Despite conservation discourses in Madagascar increasingly emphasizing the role of customary institutions for wildlife management, we know relatively little about their effectiveness. Here, we used semi-structured interviews with  adults in eight villages to investigate whether sacred caves and taboos offer conservation benefits for cave-dwelling bats in and around Tsimanampetsotsa National Park, south-west Madagascar. Although some caves were described as sites of spiritual significance for the local communities, most interviewees (c. %) did not recognize their present-day sacred status. Similarly, only % of the interviewees recognized taboos inhibiting bat hunting and consumption. Legal protection of bats and caves through protected areas was often more widely acknowledged than customary regulations, although up to % of the interviewees reported consumption of bats within their communities. Guano extraction was often tolerated in sacred caves in exchange for economic compensation. This may benefit bat conservation by creating incentives for bat protection, although extraction is often performed through destructive and exploitative practices with little benefit for local communities. In view of these results our study questions the extent to which sacred sites, taboos and protected areas offer protection for bats in Madagascar. These results support previous studies documenting the erosion of customary institutions in Madagascar, including the loss of the spiritual values underpinning sacred sites. Given that many Malagasy bats are cave-dwelling species and that most depend on the customary protection of these sites, it is important to obtain a better understanding of the complex interactions between spiritual practices, taboos and protected areas in sustaining bat diversity.

Bat coronavirus phylogeography in the Western Indian Ocean

“…CoV transmission risk also depends on ecological factors and human actions such as encroachment, landscape uses, and cultural traditions. On Madagascar, for example, bats are hunted for commercial or personal consumption (46,47). Further, certain Malagasy ethnic groups have cultural rituals associated with caves, including those with bat roosts (47).…”

“…On Madagascar, for example, bats are hunted for commercial or personal consumption (46,47). Further, certain Malagasy ethnic groups have cultural rituals associated with caves, including those with bat roosts (47). Indirect contact with contaminated environments such as bat guano may also increase infection risk.…”

Global response of conservationists across mass media likely constrained bat persecution due to COVID-19

“…In most parts of the world, bats frequently arouse negative emotions among the public, such as fear and disgust ( Davey et al, 1998 ; Deshpande and Kelkar, 2015 ; Fagan et al, 2018 ; Kubiatko, 2012 ; Lim and Wilson, 2019 ; Polák et al, 2020 ; Prokop et al, 2009 ; Prokop and Tunnicliffe, 2008 ; Shapiro et al, 2021 ; Todd, 2016 ). In many cultures, they have been associated with aspects of death ( Fernández-Llamazares et al, 2018 ), witchcraft ( Agbanusi, 2016 ; Lunney and Moon, 2011 ; Musila et al, 2018 ; Tuttle, 2017 ), evil ( Charro, 1999 ; Voigt and Kingston, 2016 ), malevolent creatures such as vampires ( Prokop et al, 2009 ) and omens of bad luck, disease, and lack of fundamental resources ( Eklöf and Rydell, 2021 ; Laverty et al, 2021 ).…”

Bats in a cave tourism and pilgrimage site in eastern India: conservation challenges

“…Cave dwelling bats are often hunted for their meat and for medicinal uses (da Costa Rego et al, 2015; Tanalgo et al, 2016), but bats inhabiting sacred caves may benefit from local customary regulations and taboos (Metcalfe et al, 2010; Golden & Comaroff, 2015; Furey & Racey, 2016; Fernandez-Llamazares et al, 2018). Although bats roosting in the Gupteswar caves are not harmed, because of sacred beliefs associated with the caves, unregulated tourism activities inside the caves are a potential threat to the bats.…”