Underground trip spelled out in cave photography
Okinawa least horseshoe bat of Gyokusendo Cave
As you walk through the tourist cave area of Gyokusendo Cave at night, you can see Okinawa least horseshoe bat flying around without sound.
About 200 Okinawa least horseshoe bat, a small Okinawa least horseshoe bat friend, use the back of the Gyokusendo Cave branch cave.
Okinawa least horseshoe bat, with its wings spread, is as long as the palm of an adult's palm, the head and torso are about four grams in weight. The face has a complex folds (nosal leaves / biyo) and it resembles chrysanthemums, so it is named Kikugashira.
Echo location
Okinawa least horseshoe bat has an echo location ability in nocturnal. It emits the high-frequency sound (ultrasound) emitted from the mouth or nose, and receives the sound (reverberation sound / echo) that flies on the object with your ears. The ability to check the distance and size of the prey. The small Okinawa least horseshoe bat friends have such special abilities that allow them to capture prey and roost caves in the dark night sky.
Useful Okinawa least horseshoe bat
At sunset, the Okinawa least horseshoe bat and others wake up out of the cave and eat insects in the nearby forest. It is a large eater who is said to eat more than half of his weight overnight.
After returning to the roost Okinawa least horseshoe bat feces in the cave. This feces are a valuable source of nutrients for underground organisms living in caves and helps to maintain the underground ecosystem.
In addition, Okinawa least horseshoe bat also eats a large amount of pests from fields, so it can be said to be useful to humans.
Protection of Okinawa least horseshoe bat
In recent years, the number of forests that serve as hunting grounds in Okinawa least horseshoe bat and roost caves have decreased, and the number of Okinawa least horseshoe bat has also decreased. In order to protect the Okinawa least horseshoe bat, measures to preserve forests and caves as a set. Especially because the number of caves where Okinawa least horseshoe bat raises children, it is very important to protect their habitat.
(Bat gate) is installed on the door, Okinawa least horseshoe bat and others are free.
Observation at Okinawa least horseshoe bat
As an event related to the protection of Okinawa least horseshoe bat, Okinawa World has invited scientists from Okinawa least horseshoe bat to observe the Okinawa least horseshoe bat in Gyokusendo Cave. We hope that you will have fun learning about Okinawa least horseshoe bat will give you a chance to think about the existence of familiar and unfamiliar creatures of Okinawa least horseshoe bat and the preservation of the habitat of Okinawa least horseshoe bat.
At the observation session, Okinawa least horseshoe bat researchers were invited to talk about Okinawa least horseshoe bat.
We observe Okinawa least horseshoe bat and others flying from the back of the first branch of Gyokusendo Cave to the cave, in the tourist cave area. A special experience of listening to Okinawa least horseshoe bat's voice (ultrasound) using a bat detector (Okinawa least horseshoe bat detector). I am amazed by Okinawa least horseshoe bat's wonderful ability to fly freely through the darkness.
Okinawa least horseshoe bat is said to have acquired the ability to fly and echo location skills about 50 million years ago.
I'm not exhausted.
