{"id":1072,"date":"2015-10-02T00:00:29","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T00:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.my\/stories\/?p=1072"},"modified":"2022-07-20T20:56:28","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T20:56:28","slug":"bats-gunung-mulu-national-park-deer-cave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.my\/stories\/asia\/bats-gunung-mulu-national-park-deer-cave\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nomadic Boys Witness the Bat Exodus at Gunung Mulu National Park Deer Cave"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BatBats exodus from Deer Cave at Mulu National Park<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It was dark and humid, with the smell of bat guano becoming stronger and stronger. Sebastien looked up in the dark and said:<\/p>\n

“We have over 3 million bats sleeping on top of our heads and we are basically walking under one big giant toilet!”<\/em><\/p>\n

Stefan turned round to face Sebastien and saw far away in the light, the familiar face of Abraham Lincoln carved out in the cave entrance. He said to Sebastien (giggling to himself):<\/p>\n

“If all those deers and cave salamanders can eat it then it\u2019s probably not that bad. Get rid of that ridiculous handkerchief and just get used to the smell!”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"AbrahamAbraham Lincoln rock shape at the Deer Cave entrance<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

We were visiting the Deer Cave, the largest cave passageway in the world, located in Gurung Mulu National Park (or just Mulu NP for short), in Sarawak, Malaysia Borneo.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Deer Cave at Gunung Mulu National Park<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At 122m high and 174m, the cave mouth is large enough to fit the entire Statue of Liberty.<\/p>\n

The Deer Cave is famous for its large wrinkle-lipped and horseshoe bats population of over 3 million, hanging from the ceiling. This explained the strong smell of guano inside.<\/p>\n

Guano, simply put is bat pooh. It is an important source of nutrition for many of the cave species due to its high levels of minerals like nitrogen, potassium and phosphate. A large deer population used to come and feed on the high guano levels here, hence the name. The deers no longer come here but the name remained.<\/p>\n

The bats release their guano in the early hours of the morning before resting and after retuning from a night out hunting. It\u2019s this exodus of bats at sunset as they set off to hunt, which is extremely famous and is what brought us to the Deer Cave in the first place.<\/p>\n

\"StefanStefan watching the bats in formation<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Bats\u00a0Exodus from the Deer Cave<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Each evening, crowds gather by the mouth of the Deer Cave to watch the dramatic performance put on by the bats as they leave in organised groups to go hunting.<\/p>\n

We visited on a very rainy August day and after a long day of hiking in the rain, we were worried the bats would not put on a show for us as they avoid going outside when it\u2019s wet.<\/p>\n

In spite of this, we gathered at the outdoor round theatre by the Deer Cave entrance, waiting for the show.<\/p>\n

\"WaitSebastien waiting for the bats exodus at the Deer Cave entrance<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Suddenly, the rain stopped!<\/p>\n

And the exodus\u00a0began.<\/p>\n

The bats gathered in their numbers at the cave entrance. Then, in a very organised manner, they exited in waves, one by one, in a large ring shaped formation circling higher and higher up the cliff face, moving out across the rainforest in a spiral shape. The sight resembled a giant DNA shape moving across the sky. A truly astonishing phenomena to witness.<\/p>\n

\"DNAGiant DNA Bat exodus from the Deer Cave at Mulu National Park<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The bats continued in this way for almost an hour: each group lining up and waiting their turn to spiral out of the Deer Cave to go hunting in this giant DNA shape.<\/p>\n

The large DNA shape formed by the bats in the sky is to create a threatening looking shape to ward off any predators. They are believed to travel up to 100km away from the cave towards the coast for meals of insects, washed down with seawater, then return in the early morning hours to rest.<\/p>\n

The bats prefer night-time to hunt in order to avoid predators who are mostly active during the day light hours, and also to take advantage of the abundance of insect species active at night.<\/p>\n

Did we say we got lucky?<\/p>\n

Just as the final bats made their exodus, the rain, as if by magic, started pouring down heavily once again. It was almost as if the skies closed up in that 5:30pm window to let us watch this dramatic performance.<\/p>\n

The Mulu National Park was a remarkable jungle experience and the bats exodus definitely something worth witnessing.<\/p>\n

\"SebastianSebastien in the Mulu National Park rainforest<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"mulu-national-park\"Surrounding area of the Mulu National Park<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Mulu NP has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000 and is the largest national park in Sarawak. It\u2019s located just South of Brunei, right in the heart of the Borneo rainforest:
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