In a curious twist, a bat has won New Zealand's Bird of the Year poll for 2021, raising eyebrows among those confused as to how a flying mammal could win a contest nominally devoted to celebrating the avian population.
"I thought Bird of the Year should actually be you know a bird?!" One Twitter user wrote. "What's winning next year, a fish?"
That was the tenor of many of the responses to the annual contest following the victory of the pekapeka-tou-roa, or long-tailed bat, which is a tiny bat native New Zealand. However, plenty of others were happy to see bats get their moment in the spotlight. Either way, it made for lively discussion on social media once the results were announced.
We had 58,561 verified votes, coming from 100 countries. And in stark contrast to previous years, no attempts at voter fraud! https://t.co/4tDfJLaQI7
— Forest & Bird (@Forest_and_Bird) November 1, 2021
So how exactly did a bat end up winning the Bird of the Year 2021 award? As it turns out, the contest's purpose is to raise awareness of New Zealand's biodiversity and endangered species. The pekapeka-tou-roa is one of New Zealand's few land based native mammals, and the first to be included in such a poll this year. Bats have been given a less than stellar image over the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but rehabilitating their image wasn't the reason for the pekapeka's inclusion.
"The campaign to raise awareness and support for this little flying furball has captured the nation! A vote for bats is also a vote for predator control, habitat restoration, and climate action to protect our bats and their feathered neighbors," wrote Laura Keown, a spokesperson for Forest and Bird.
Th species is a unique part of Aotearoa's biodiversity, and not many people know that they even exist, so it's important that the contest brought more awareness for conservation efforts.
The pekapeka-tou-roa beat out last year's winner, the kakapo, which received over 4,072 votes. The bat is very tiny compared to the flightless kakapo parrot, which is also the world's heaviest parrot. According to the Forest and Bird environmental group, 56,733 people voted, and more than 7,031 voted for the bat to win the contest.
Image credit: New Zealand Department of Conservation
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey
