Eye of Newt and Wool of Bat Will Be Plentiful After London Olympics
The organizers of the 2012 Olympics here are hoping to attract millions of visitors from across the world for next year's Summer Games. Some of them, planners hope, will be bats.
Gardens at London's Olympic Park, where planners hope to attract wildlife. (Image: Paul Sonne/The Wall Street Journal)
The Olympic Delivery Authority, which is creating the Olympic Park, wants to lure the flying mammals and build habitats for various creatures at the London site. The result is hundreds of "wildlife installations" across the 618-acre Olympic Park, housing everything from moths to otters. The goal is biodiversity, and creating a worthy post-Games legacy.
To make bats feel at home, the developers are installing at least 156 special "bat boxes," cozy residences attached to bridges and buildings for the flying animals. Their plan also calls for an environment full of insects—one bat can eat 3,000 bugs a night—and landscaping features that provide a "bat corridor."Some of them, planners hope, will be bats.
Holy flying fox! It's a nursery for orphaned bats