Texas family donation protects four million Mexican free-tailed bats
The Eckert family gifted a Mason County cave to The Nature Conservancy to ensure permanent protection for the bat colony.
A Texas family's decision to donate a historic cave has secured a permanent habitat for approximately four million female Mexican free-tailed bats, according to the Times of India.
Richard Phillip Eckert and Virginia Eckert Garrett donated the cave in Mason County to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 1990 to honour their father and grandfather.
The donation included a requirement that the surrounding land stays accessible to the public for educational purposes and recreation, maintaining a tradition held for over a century.
The Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve serves as a major nursery where many females give birth to a single pup in June.
The bats inhabit the Texas Hill Country site from May to September before returning to Mexico in October.
TNC has established a management plan with Bat Conservation International to monitor the population and restrict cave entry during maternal periods to prevent colony destruction.