Bite to eat? Vampires prefer feeding in company, research reveals
Blood suckers they may be, anti-social they are not. Vampires are highly social and community-minded animals, writes Harry Cockburn
Disregarding their unappealing habit of sucking blood from live victims, vampire bats increasingly appear to be emerging as a challenger to humans in their efforts at operating a civil society, with recent research revealing an extraordinary level of cooperation and resourcefulness among colonies.
These include: members of the species self-isolating when ill, mothers adopting orphan babies, females sharing food equally, and grooming taking place within an egalitarian social framework.
The latest study into the species has now revealed that when female bats eat, they prefer to do so in company.
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