The bats were born in last year's November, are now almost adults

Feb 14, 2014 02:26 GMT  ·  By

Staff at Auckland Zoo in New Zealand are happy to announce that a pair of bat twins born at this facility in last year's November have successfully made it through their first few months of life, and are now almost adults.

Zoo Borns tells us that, at the time when they were born, the bat twins weighed about 4 grams (about 0.14 ounces) each.

However, they have been steadily growing plumper, and now tip the scale at about 14 grams (roughly 0.5 ounces). Apparently, this means that they are almost the size of adults.

The same source details that the tiny creatures are called lesser short-tailed bats. This species is native to New Zealand, and is currently threatened with extinction.

Hence, conservationists are doing their best to breed them in captivity.

Interestingly enough, staff at Auckland Zoo maintains that the bat twins that now call this facility their home are the first of their kind to have ever been born and hand-raised in captivity.