SPECIES OF THE MONTH: DECEMBER 2016

                                                             
Phylum : Chordata
Class     : Mammalia
Order    : Chiroptera
Family  : Molossidae
Genus   : Tadarida
Species : Tadarida brasiliensis

Facundo Bacardí Massó, the Spanish wine merchant who founded the Bacardi company in 1862 maintained a fierce opposition to Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba in the 1960s. Bacardi family fled Cuba when Fidel Castro’s government nationoalized the island’s distilleries in 1960.

But the compnay still uses bat as its icon which are remiscent of those lived in the original distillaries of the company in Cuba. Those bats are now identified to be the Mexican free-tailed bat also known as the Brazilian free-tailed bat.

The Mexican free-tailed bat is listed in the IUCN Red List as of least concern, yet it is considered to be a species of special concern. Its roosting habits make it easy for human interactions to harm the bat populations.

Habitat destruction is one cause for their declining populations. In a cave called Cueva de la Boca near Monterrey, Mexico, many endangered species including Mexican free-tailed bats are being protected by the Mexican environmental conservation (NGO), Pronatura Noreste.

Details: http://www.iucnredlist.org