Bats have always been associated with fear, all thanks to how they have been portrayed throughout time in the movies. This is the reason why the Geoffroy’s Rousette Fruit Bat inhabiting the Monfort Cave in Samal Island in the Philippines do not get much amiable reception from the locals. Aside from being exotic delicacies to those who enjoy bat dishes, these fruit bats are also being hunted down by farmers thinking that these harmless warm-blooded nocturnal creatures are threats to their crops. Sadly, they get killed for no reason at all.

Luckily, when Ms. Norma Monfort discovered that inside her property in Samal lays a cave inhabited by approximately 1.8 million of these fruit bats, she did not feel scared or alarmed by their presence. Instead, she saw this as an opportunity to help protect these creatures. Her decision to provide a safe haven for these bats was a right choice since it is very rare to find such big populations of bats in one cave in the whole world. In fact, the population of bats in the Monfort Cave is so immense that it was acknowledged by Guinness of Book Records to be the largest colony of Rousettus amplexicaudatus.

By receiving this kind of recognition, the Monfort Bat Cave elicited attention from concerned conservationists. Because of this, appropriate and more active measures are being done to help make Samal Island a more conducive habitat for these fruit bats.