45 Bats Found Dead or Grounded at NTU Campus Since August, Prompting Student-Led Research Initiative

By
Ong Yee Sage
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Over 40 bats have dropped to the ground at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in the past six months, prompting students to investigate this unusual phenomenon.

Since August 2024, 45 bat groundings and deaths have been reported across NTU. In January 2025 alone, 15 groundings and seven deaths of the Javan pipistrelle were recorded.

The National Parks Board (NParks) confirmed that while bat groundings occur elsewhere, no other location in Singapore has experienced such a high concentration of incidents.

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NTU Students Spearhead Bat Rescue and Research Efforts

NTU’s environmental and wildlife student interest group EarthLink began rescuing grounded bats in 2024. Ms Karina Lim, who was EarthLink’s director at that time, initially suspected pesticide fogging might be linked to the groundings.

“We quickly dismissed this possibility as checks found no fogging had been done in the area in the weeks we were consistently finding grounded bats,” said Ms Lim.

Most groundings were reported around NTU’s Hall of Residence 9, leading students to wonder if nearby construction of the Jurong Region MRT line could be causing distress to the bats or affecting their sonar capabilities.

First-year environmental and earth systems science undergraduate Emma Chao, 19, and third-year PhD student Nicole Dorville from NTU’s Asian School of Environment formed NTU Grounded Bat Surveys in January 2025 after learning about EarthLink’s rescue work.

“We are both really passionate about bats, so we naturally wanted to look out for those vulnerable to becoming grounded, as well as to better understand and possibly improve the situation,” Chao said.

With NParks’ support and training in safe animal handling, the team aims to identify hot spots and threats to these nocturnal mammals. Their extra-curricular study now includes 19 other contributors from various NTU schools, making it the first study in Singapore focused on bat groundings.

Javan Pipistrelle Conservation Critical for Singapore’s Ecosystem

Wildlife research and rescue group Acres noted that the NTU groundings are particularly concerning because they involve only the Javan pipistrelle (Pipistrellus javanicus), one of about 25 bat species found in Singapore.

The insect-eating Javan pipistrelle grows only to the size of a human thumb and commonly roosts on trees and building structures. According to Nature In Singapore, an online journal of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, these bats have also been spotted at Ayer Rajah Industrial Park, National University of Singapore, Paya Lebar MRT station, and residential buildings in Punggol and Upper Thomson.

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Ms Chao suggested that over-reproduction could be one reason behind the groundings.

“Groundings can sometimes happen naturally during the mating season, when mother bats over-reproduce and abandon pups because of insufficient resources,” she explained.

Grounded bats face serious risks, Chao noted. They are often less able to launch into flight from the ground due to exhaustion, injury, or inexperience. This puts them at risk of being crushed in busy pathways or starving to death.

Ms Lim, now a senior wildlife coordinator at Acres, first learned about the groundings from a community wildlife watchdog group on Telegram in August 2022. Through EarthLink, she encouraged NTU students to report sightings of grounded bats, whether dead or alive.

She and two other EarthLink members saved 37 bats between September 2022 and January 2023, marking the beginning of rescue efforts now continued and expanded by NTU Grounded Bat Surveys.

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Conservation of the Javan pipistrelle is vital for Singapore’s ecology, Ms Lim emphasized. These bats play a key role in controlling mosquitoes and other night-flying insects.

Beyond NTU, 176 groundings of other insect bat species were reported in Singapore in 2024, with higher numbers in Punggol, Yishun and Sembawang. Common species include the whiskered myotis (Myotis muricola), lesser Asiatic yellow house bat (Scotophilus kuhlii), and fruit-eating lesser dog-faced fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis).

“People usually request the bats be removed, but that doesn’t solve the root of the issue as they have nowhere else to go. Development means greater habitat fragmentation, leaving bats in need of new spaces to live in,” Ms Lim said.

NParks has been actively monitoring Singapore’s bat population since 2011 and has not detected any infectious zoonotic diseases. No bats in Singapore have been reported to have rabies.

If anyone encounters a bat at home, Acres advises turning off lights and ceiling fans, and opening windows as wide as possible to allow the bat to exit safely. If it fails to leave after a long time, report it with photos and videos to Acres’ Wildlife Rescue Hotline at 9783-7782.

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“What we need to do now is to learn to modify our environments, or best, learn to coexist with them,” Ms Lim said.

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Ong Yee Sage