ISLAMABAD, June 11 (NNN-APP) – A group of fruit-eating bats attacked mango orchards in several villages of Pakistan’s east Multan district, damaging the crop, spreading at a vast area, local media reported.
Villages in Multan, which were already marred by locust attack, saw the fresh rare attack by the mega bats, with wingspans of more than four feet (more than one metre), the reports added.
The reports said, villagers tried to save their crops from the bats, and killed about 40 of them and scared several others away. However, the attack incurred a considerable loss to the farmers.
If the mammal attack continues in the mango-rich area of the country, the fruit’s yield is feared to further decline this year in the region, located in the south of the country’s east Punjab province.
The bats, in such a large size, were earlier seen in 2015, in south Sindh province, where they were eating mangoes and dates in fruit farms.
The bat attack created panic among the villagers, as the mammal is notorious for being reservoirs and vectors for a range of diseases and viruses, lethal to humans and cattle, the reports said.– NNN-APP
