The organizers of the 2012 London Olympics are hoping to attract millions of visitors from across the world -- some of them bats.
The Olympic Delivery Authority, which is creating the Olympic Park, wants to lure the flying mammals and build habitats for various creatures at the London site. The result is hundreds of "wildlife installations" across the 250-hectare (618-acre) Olympic Park, housing everything from moths to otters. The goal is biodiversity, and creating a worthy post-Games legacy.
To make bats feel at home, the developers are installing at least 156 special "bat boxes," cozy residences attached to bridges and buildings for the flying animals. Their plan also calls for an environment full of insects -- one bat can eat 3,000 bugs a night -- and landscaping features that provide a "bat corridor."
The bat boxes will not officially be open for roosting until after the Games because of fears that terrorists will put bombs in them. But already there is some evidence that bats are flocking to the site, says Kim Oliver, an ecologist who works there.
Bats are a focus, in part, because they are highly protected under British law. Some bat enthusiasts say certain species have been dwindling in London because of bright lights and habitat destruction, and the Games could represent an opportunity to redress London's assault on the bat community.
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