Baby Buffy, Future Vampire Slayer

Buffy prefers to eat upside-down. She also likes a soft pillow during naptime. The baby bat, one of a tiny population of Rodrigues fruit bats, gets all the pampering she needs at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Health Center.

Born on July 6, Buffy needed some extra care to get her through her first month of life. The WCS vets had raised two other Rodrigues fruit bats, and knew just what Buffy would need to feel comfortable. They feed her a milk formula every two hours from a bottle with a nipple that mimics the size and shape of a mother bat. The comfort pillow she sleeps on is made from a cotton stocking, and contains a device meant to simulate her mom’s heartbeat.

Buffy is a member of a rare species. Critically endangered Rodriguez fruit bats number only 5,000 in their native home of Rodrigues Island, located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. There are about 350 individuals in zoos worldwide.

Buffy still has a lot of growing to do until she catches up to the size of her adult relatives, which can have a wingspan up to three feet. Once she’s big enough to feed herself, she’ll join her colony at the Bronx Zoo’s World of Darkness.