Pekapeka-tou-roa is a long-tailed bat, about the size of a human thumb.
Yes a BAT! Not a bird. And that has predictably caused outrage. Amongst genuine bird lovers. Alleging the vote was rigged.
Yes a BAT! Not a bird. And that has predictably caused outrage. Amongst genuine bird lovers. Alleging the vote was rigged.
Why would a country have a Bird of the Year vote? And do the New Zealanders vote for a Lizard of the Year, a Donkey of the Year? Is it a species of bird that is voted for or a particular animal, such as Billy The Brightest Budgie?
You'd imagine the Kiwi would be a popular choice but that hasn't been the winner since 2009 (Kiwi lovers need to mobilise). Last year's winner was the kākāpō, the only bird so far to have won the prestigious award twice. It came second this year to the munch-maligned bat.
The competition is organised by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand aka Forest & Bird. It is not known whether there is a Forest of the Year poll (it's quite possible that if there is, it will have been won by a river). The Bird of the Year vote is not limited to members, so is very popular with the public. Well, some of the public: the population of New Zealand, as of today - courtesy of worldometers.info - is 4,822,233; 7,031 of the populace voted in the competition, with Pekapoo winning with 12% of the vote. It's forbidden to speculate whether a Proportional Representation voting system is in place.
From humble beginnings in 2006, when just 458 voters elected the New Zealand fantail the winner,
voting reached a peak in 2019 when 12,022 elected the Hoiho, or Yellow-Eyed penguin, winner with nearly a third of the votes - the most popular fella yet.
New Zealand's Department Of Conservation researchers have been collecting information about long-tailed bats in the Hanging Rock area of South Canterbury. The population is small and vulnerable, numbering only about 100 bats and still declining. So maybe we should be supportive of efforts to bring attention to their plight. Unless, of course, they were the source of SARS-CoV-2, in which case we might think again.
No Donald,
I'm just joking. Don't quote me! Now I'll get all those batophiles on my case. Oops.
There’s no accounting for folk who live at the bottom of the globe. It’s made them quite batty.
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