Deforestation drives vampire bats to feed on humans

Despite their fearsome name, vampire bats don't have a taste for human blood. But that's changed, no thanks to us.

Researchers from the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil have found that a species of vampire bat has somehow adapted to drink human blood, apparently driven by the scarcity of their natural prey due to deforestation and human activity.

A close analysis of droppings from the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata) showed a mix of chicken and human blood matter—indicating that the bats had fed on people. 

This stumped the researchers, because D. ecaudata is known to be specialized at feeding on birds: its digestive system is more able to digest birds' fat-rich blood rather than humans' protein-rich blood.

"We were quite surprised... This species isn't adapted to feed on the blood of mammals," researcher Enrico Bernard told New Scientist.

The research team believes that deforestation and hunting may have decimated the bat's usual supply of prey, forcing it to adapt to new sources of sustenance.

Meanwhile, the encroachment of farms on the bats' habitat may have driven D. ecaudata to specifically prey on chickens—a common farm animal—as well as on people.

"The record of humans as prey and the absence of blood from native species (in the bats' droppings) may reflect a low availability of wild birds in the study site, reinforcing the impact of human activities on local ecological processes," the researchers said in their paper.

The researchers fear that the hairy-legged vampire bats' newfound predilection for humans may facilitate the spread of rabies and other diseases. — GMA News