We normally view bats as vampiric and terrifying creatures but seeing these tiny baby bats being fed from bottles and wrapped in blankets, made us go batty on them. These abandoned baby bats at the Tolga Bat Hospital, Atherton, Australia, proof that these creatures can be as adorable as any puppy or kitten. The fruit bats are brought in when afflicted by the fatal tick paralysis- a disease that orphans over 300 baby bats each year. The baby bats are also brought in when their mothers become too sick to feed them or when their mothers die, mostly from the same disease. Â
Tick paralysis is known to kill hundreds of bats every year at the Atherton Tablelands. Tolga Bat Hospital acts as a community group that works to conserve the bats and their natural habitats. The hospital has volunteers who nurse the abandoned bats back to health and later release them to the world. The hospital is also a sanctuary for bats that have retired from zoos. (Scroll down to watch video)
