About
Animal Facts
Common Name:
Vampire Bat
Scientific Name:
Desmodus rotundus
Behavior:
  • Tend to live in colonies of 100 or so animals, but may reach 1,000 individuals.
  • They often assist others within the colony, for example providing blood to mothers with infants that cannot hunt.
  • Unlike nearly all other bats, vampire bats can walk, run, hop, and can launch themselves vertically into flight.
Diet:
Carnivore
Weight:
1.25 oz
Length:
3 in
Life Span:
10 yrs
Gestation Period:
210 days
Number of Young:
1
Habitats:
  • Forest
Fun Facts:
  • Humans are rarely on the vampire bat's menu as most prey include wild animals, cattle, and horses.
  • They do not suck their prey's blood but lap it up from a tiny cut made with incredibly sharp teeth.
  • Sensors on their nose help vampire bats identify where warm blood is flowing just beneath the skin.
  • Vampire bats have a good sense of smell and large eyes to go along with fantastic hearing.
  • Research is underway on "draculin" - a protein in the bat's saliva that has potent anticoagulant properties.
Endangered Status
Endangered Status
  • Extinct in Wild (EW)
  • Critically Endangered (CR)
  • Endangered (EN)
  • Vulnerable (VU)
  • Near Threatened (NT)
  • Least Concern (LC)
  • Not Evaluated (NE)

Vampire bats live in large colonies in the wild, and our Zoo colony is nearly 30 animals.
To replicate their wild diet, we mix an anticoagulant in with cow blood from a local processing plant for them to eat.  Human blood is not on the menu.