WASHINGTON— Trade in painted woolly bats, largely driven by demand in the United States, is likely unsustainable and illegal, according to a first-of-its-kind study published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research. Over a 12-week period in 2022, researchers with the International Union for Conservation of Nature bat trade working group found 856 listings for dead bat décor on Amazon, eBay and Etsy, including 215 for painted woolly bats. U.S. vendors represented 62% of the listings.

“Clearly, steps to protect this species from such senseless overexploitation are urgently needed,” said Chris R. Shepherd, Ph.D., executive director of Monitor Conservation Research Society and a co-author on the paper. “We strongly recommend that effective legal protection in range countries and consumer countries be put in place, and that international trade be monitored and controlled.”

Known for their striking orange and black wings, painted woolly bats are collected and killed in their native habitat in South and Southeast Asia and sold as décor globally even though collecting them is illegal in many of the countries where they live. This imperiled species is not bred in captivity, so all the bats are taken from the wild. Scientists with the working group believe the trade is unsustainable due to the slow life history of painted woolly bats.

Painted woolly bat populations are declining. The IUCN assessed the species as “near threatened,” yet few nations within the species’ range offer the bats effective protection from killing. The bats live in China, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Because they produce just one offspring at a time, the species is particularly vulnerable to trade.

“We have a real chance to save these striking little bats before a frivolous décor trend picks up too much steam and pushes them closer to becoming endangered. We need the U.S. government to act quickly,” said Dianne DuBois, a staff scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This study provides strong evidence of the threat U.S. consumers pose to these unique and beautiful bats, likely without even knowing it. We have to prevent any more painted bats from being hung on a wall and help them recover and flourish in the wild where they belong.”

Scientists have been raising concerns about the potential harms of the bat décor trade for nearly a decade, yet the market has only grown. This new study confirms the prevalence of online listings offering painted woolly bats for sale on major U.S.-based e-commerce websites. Before publication of today’s study little was known about the trade in the species.

Researchers have also expressed concerns about the potential for trade in bats to spread disease to healthy bat populations and humans.

In May the Center and Monitor filed a legal petition asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect painted woolly bats under the Endangered Species Act.

Bats are declining globally in the current biodiversity crisis. About one-third of the world’s bat species assessed by IUCN are either threatened with extinction or their vulnerability is unknown because of a lack of data. Nine bat species have gone extinct. It’s estimated that Southeast Asia will lose 23% of its bat species by 2100.