BALTIMORE, MD – The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore has more than quadrupled its population of Seba’s short-tailed bats (carollia perspicillata) with the addition of 150 animals to the existing colony of 30.

The new bats arrived from the Denver Zoo earlier in the spring. After a period of quarantine and diet adjustment, they were introduced to the existing bat colony and are now in the habitat.

Visitors to the Maryland Zoo will find the bat cave inside the Zoo’s Maryland Wilderness area. The cave was renovated in preparation for the new arrivals with extensive cleaning, improved lighting, and the installation of new viewing glass.

Seba’s short-tailed bats are small, gregarious, social leaf-nosed bats that weigh barely more than half an ounce. They live in moist evergreen and dry deciduous lowland forests of Central and South America. While not native to Maryland, these mammals are similar in size and behavior to some Maryland bat species.

Visit our Seba’s short-tailed bat page to learn more about the bats.

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