Bats Cave in Ilam

If you live in a warm and dry area and by the beginning of the warm season, the city and your yard host various types of insects, then you would say that bats are not vampires but small, lovely, and harmless saviors. Otherwise, and when asked what you know about bats, you’d probably instantly say that bats are little demons, featherless flying creatures, the only flying mammals, they do not lay eggs but are viviparous animals that breastfeed their cubs.

But really, isn't it amazing? Flying creatures as big as a human fist, and they hug their babies and give them milk!

Bats! Creatures whose bloodthirstiness has inspired many horror stories and movies. Tiny but useful animals at the end of the food chain whose disappearance could easily disrupt the ecosystem.

 

There are over 1,000 species of bats in the world. Speaking of Iran, aside from the vampire species that are native to South and Central America, there are almost all kinds of bats in this country. The only known bat cave in Iran that is a unique natural phenomenon is located in Dehloran, Ilam province. To the date, the cave has remained as an unknown sight to tourists and nature enthusiasts.

 

Ilam’s Bats Cave, which has been registered as a national natural phenomenon, is located in the slopes of Black Mountain, is 265 meters long, 30 meters in wide, and 50 meters high. It’s a dark and unknown cavern dating back to the age of troglodytes which has now become the habitat of millions of tailed bats.

At sunset, the dwellers depart the cave in groups of several hundreds flying for three kilometers to the city at an amazing speed and return to the cave after hunting. The millions of bats living in the cave have created a large and thick mass of guano that has been formed naturally over thousands of years. It is used by the local farmers as a fertilizer. Interested to visit this cave? All you need to do is to make sure you take along appropriate shoes, a flashlight, simple spelunking equipment, as well as a local guide.

 

Upon your arrival at the cave, the bats might get disturbed and confused by your light and start flying around the cave. Do not get scared! You're a thousand times scarier and stranger to them than what they are to you.

 

The Interconnected caverns of the cave, the guano mound, as well as the diverse species of the bats have turned Ilam’s Bats Cave into one of the most interesting subjects for scientific research and thesis. Perhaps it's time to leave the typical online Google search aside and do something unique on a new subject, it’ll surely be a memorable journey!

 

After watching the wonders of the cave, you stand at the mouth of the cave protecting your eyes from the sunlight. And there in the barren flat field in front of you, at a distance not so far away, you’ll see a solitary metal sunshade where the strangest spring in Iran (Ilam’s Tar Spring) gushes in the silence and tranquility of the plain.

8/31/2023 3:37:41 AM