An important update about the Livingstone’s fruit bats
Tuesday 14 October 2025
Bats, especially the Livingstone’s fruit bat, have been synonymous with Jersey Zoo over the years. They have delighted thousands of visitors with their huge wing spans, inquisitive faces and dramatic flights. We have also had incredible success in breeding this once Critically Endangered species.
In January, we started a review of the Jersey Zoo site, which in places needed significant investment and, in some cases, repair following Storm Ciaran. This review included the Bat Tunnel, which we knew was aging and in urgent need of work.
Back in April, the team moved over 70 fruit bats in one day into four smaller groups across our site, following an outbreak of Pasteurella in the colony. Thanks to the swift action and dedication of our team, we were able to minimise the loss we faced when the colony sadly got infected, but this could have been a very different story.
Since then, the bats have been living in temporary accommodation where they have continued to receive expert care from our Keepers, and we have also welcomed several new bat pups. Following the Pasteurella outbreak, we have been working to develop a world-first Pasteurella vaccine for use in fruit bats. The vaccine has now been manufactured and the first doses delivered.
We are currently trialling the vaccine on a small number of individuals, prior to a colony-wide roll-out. The plan is for this vaccine to be made available to other fruit bat holders across the wider zoo community, so that the knowledge that we have gained and the work that we have done here at Jersey Zoo can be used to help protect even more fruit bats from this disease.
We also hold the studbook for Livingstone’s Fruit bats and over the last few years have been working with other suitable zoos across the UK and Europe to establish new homes for them. This will help support the breeding programme and reduce the risk of a large population in one place.
Sadly, we have now made the incredibly difficult decision to find our colony of bats new homes.
We have weighed up the benefits of repairing the Bat Tunnel against creating a new exhibit, which is the better option. We now know that the estimated cost for rebuilding will be at least seven figures. We would also need to raise funds, design the new exhibit, get planning permission and build, all of which would take significant time.
Our focus is always on ensuring the very best welfare for all our animals and as we reach six months of the bats being in temporary accommodation, we are being proactive in finding them new homes. This will take many months and that’s why we have made this decision now to give us plenty of time to seek other suitable holders.
If and when the opportunity arises in the future, we would love to welcome bats back to Jersey Zoo and give visitors, members and islanders the chance to see these fascinating creatures up close once again.
The decision to have the current cohort of bats move on from Jersey Zoo has been a very difficult one to make, but we believe that in the interests of the bats and the continued conservation of the species globally it is the right thing for us to do.
Our focus is on ensuring that we continue to provide the very best care for them over the coming months while we look for their new homes. We will continue to update our husbandry guidelines to ensure that new holders are fully informed on the best possible way to look after them.