Thread by @GiveBatsABreak

I'm genuinely glad you brought this up!

A sincere, non-dragging thread explaining the incorrect but v common idea: "bats started all of this COVID-19 mess" 1/

https://twitter.com/AeroBoy744/status/1268604957252481024

Bats. They're rad.

They ride the wind with membranes attached to their long, skinny fingers and (sometimes) tail; they go around screaming all the time & somehow that helps them see; the title 🏆 of Smallest Mammal in the 🌎 & Fastest Flyer in the 🌎 is found amongst them 2/

They eat pests 🪳, some colonies consuming literal TONS per night; some bats are responsible for pollinating important fruits 🥭; other bats eat fruit, carry the seed, and then disperse the seeds, which is especially important during reforestation 🌳; AND THE LIST GOES ON 3/

And here's the deal. They have CRAZY STRONG immune systems. Like, Immunity Level: GOD

What this means is that viruses 🦠 can live in bats' bodies, evolving into stronger and stronger versions of themselves, but almost never infecting their hosts 4/

If everything was perfect, these viruses would *remain* in their hosts. Unfortunately, things happen that cause bats (and other animals) to shed their viruses and infect other animals 🐄🐪🐍 which in turn can and do infect humans 👩‍🌾👴🧕 5/

What are these "things"? Activities that increase human-animal interaction: deforestation for agriculture or urban development; hunting; other forms of habitat destruction

Occasionally, nature contributes to these things, but human-animal interaction is OVERWHELMINGLY... 6/

...the fault of, you guessed it,

humans 👋

It's us. We destroy bats' habitats, which forces them into closer contact with us, and this contact increases stress, and increased stress increases the likelihood of viral shedding, and viral shedding causes infection 7/

Now, there is NO evidence that bats infected humans with COVID-19. In fact, almost all of the evidence points to an intermediate species between bats and us that, under a similarly stressful situation, was infected with, changed, and then shed the virus (SARS-CoV-2) 8/

So did bats start this? 🦇🦇

Absolutely not. The virus we currently have isn't even the same virus that exists in bats, and they probably couldn't give it to us if they tried (which, they aren't trying, btw)

We got ourselves in this mess and bats are gloriously innocent 9/

SO. We don't need to fear bats, hurt them, or kill them. 🙅‍♂️☠️

Quite the opposite!

We need to protect them and their ecosystems! They do so much good for our world that if we were to be without them our planet would really, really suffer for it 10/

How can you help bats? 🆘

-Learn about them!
-Install a bat box
-If you live near pollinating bats, construct a pollinator garden
-Look into what it would take for you to become a bat carer/rehabber in your area
-Donate to @BatConIntl, @batconafrica, @_BCT_, or so many more 11/

Humans are the most widespread mammals on earth, but after us? It's bats. Their radness is everywhere, y'all.

All across the globe people are learning about and helping bats, and if YOU do the same, you'll be helping humans everywhere too 🦇❤️🌎 12/12