Field in Focus | Predicting Pandemics: Flying Foxes

The Smithsonian Movement of Life initiative aims to advance the understanding of how all living things, big and small, move across changing land and seascapes to better sustain a biodiverse planet. This episode of Field in Focus tracks flying foxes in Burma and their relationship to human diseases.

Working together with Smithsonian’s Global Health Program, The Smithsonian Conservation Commons’ Movement of Life Initiative is mapping the flight paths of Indian flying foxes in Myanmar. This information will help scientists learn more about where these “megabats” travel, and where they encounter humans and domestic animals. For the first time, scientists are tracking them with light-weight GPS trackers. The trackers will provide a window into the bats’ movements that could help humans. If scientists know where bats are interacting with humans and domestic animals, they can help prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases—and maybe even help predict the next pandemic.

Related posts:

Fifty things we’ve learned about the Earth since the first Earth Day Five reasons to love bats Are we on the verge of a global pandemic? (UPDATED) A planet in peril