Imagine a bat, and you're probably imagining a little creature with black, gray, or brown fur. Their dark bodies help them stay camouflaged in the night while they zip around, avoiding predators and hunting for bugs and fruit.
However, not all bats follow these rules. In fact, a few of them go completely in the opposite direction.
One such bat is a little orphaned bat currently living at the Australian Bat Clinic & Wildlife Trauma Center on Australia's Gold Coast. His name is Tal'ngai Dha'run, which in the local Yugambeh language means "White Wing."
Tal'ngai is a gray-headed flying fox, which is a bat that looks a bit like a fox, but he's not exactly gray.
Instead, he's leucistic, which means he lacks areas of pigment. Therefore, he's white and pink where other bats are black and gray.
Leucism can happen to any animal, and often results in looking pink or pale. It's different than albinism, though, in that the animals still retain some pigment.
That's the case with Tal'ngai. He has brown eyes and a single black ear, as well as a heart-shaped patch on his white wing. That sounds almost too cute to be true, but it is!
Sadly, Tal'ngai is an orphan, but he's growing up strong alongside his other flying fox friends. In fact, he's having a good life snacking on fruit and hanging around — literally!
[H/T: The Dodo]
Tal'ngai Dah'run doesn't look like many other bats with his white fur and pink wings.
That's because he's leucistic, meaning he lacks pigment in certain areas. He has dark spots, brown eyes, and one black ear.
In all, it makes him very stylish.
Sadly, though, he's an orphan.
Climate change and habitat destruction have recently caused mass starvation events for bats in Australia, where thousands and thousands of bats are left suddenly without their primary food sources, causing them to weaken, die, and leave babies behind.
In Tal'ngai's case, his hunger made him so weak that he simply couldn't hold onto his tree anymore and he landed on the ground.
Trish Wimberly, director of the Bat Clinic, says that rescuers spotted him in the light of their flashlight.
The thought he was a piece of paper at first. "All of a sudden, it moved," she says. "He would have been eaten by predators if he had stayed on the ground."
Tal'ngai was taken to the clinic, where he was fully checked out.
Rescuers discovered sunburn on his tiny feet and legs where he hadn't been covered during the day.
Typically, the bats are dark-skinned and don't have this issue, but Tal'ngai's white skin is vulnerable to UV damage.
Because the bat was so young, Wimberley and the staff were concerned that he might become infected if they released him. Fortunately, other than that, he was in good heath.
"Mum had done a wonderful job rearing him to this stage," she says.
"It was hoped that we could release him back to the wild in February next year with the orphan release, but sadly those little feet and legs being sunburnt at this age was not a good prognosis for a release back to the wild. As of now, he will stay with us for his rehab, but his future will be determined next year."
In the meantime, Tal'ngai is getting rehab care with several other gray-headed flying foxes, regaining his strength, and healing from the sunburn.
The other bats don't seem to notice anything different about him, either.
Wimberley and the staff will determine if Tal'ngai is ready next year to be released into the wild, and until then, he'll live under the capable care of the folks at the Bat Clinic.
Watch the video below to see him hanging out on a special bat rack, and check out the markings on his wings. He almost looks like he has cow spots!
You can also meet more rescued bats at the Australian Bat Clinic's website and on their Facebook page. And if you'd like to help these little creatures get a fighting chance, you can also donate.
Be sure to SHARE Tal'ngai Dah'run's story with anyone who loves seeing the unusual side of nature!
