Admittedly, bats seem to be a bit of an outlier when it comes to the animal kingdom. More likely than not, they are not the first animal to come to your mind when asked to name an animal. In fact, it is highly unlikely that bats would cross your mind even if you were asked to name a mammal (or a bird). Even among mammals, they believe in an order of their own. While cats have the feline family and even rats belong to the rodent family, bats are an entire class of their own as chiropteras.

Yet, bats are actually huge contributors to the ecology and economic well-being of many countries worldwide, and especially in Southeast Asia. Despite their horrendous reputations, they play many roles that are essential to ecology.