Education Programming and Tours

Fruit Bat Conservation Lubee places both conservation science and education as its two core institutional purposes. Lubee is a certified member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). AZA is America's leading accreditation organization for zoos and aquariums, and accredits only those institutions that have achieved rigorous standards for animal care, education, wildlife conservation and science. By exhibiting our living collection of bats to the public, we help connect people with nature and encourage attitude and behavioral changes that help conservation. Many zoos (including Disney’s Animal Kingdom) have bats that originated from Lubee Bat Conservancy – click here to see a list of zoos with bats near you

In 2007 Lubee staff ran 14 education events giving 28 presentations and reaching 3,000 people in the Alachua county and North Central Florida area. Groups Lubee has provided tours for include the Florida Native Plant Society, USDA Ag-Discovery summer group and 4-H. Our education outreach programs reach 15-20 elementary schools annually (Kindergarten thru 5th Grade) within Alachua County. In 2008, we welcomed over 1,300 visitors on a single open day at our Annual Bat Festival event.

If you would like to schedule a presentation/program/tour please click on the Request a Tour/Program button. You can complete this form to schedule a tour/bring a group to Lubee, schedule a program at your school, or schedule a talk and participation by Lubee at an event/local group meeting.

Return the completed request form to Brian Pope at info@lubee.org.

Tours of the Bat Center

Fruit Bat Conservation Lubee is a conservation research facility, and is thus not open to the general public all the time. Please do not visit without an appointment.

Lubee is open for tours Tuesday through Saturday from 1pm to 4pm. Tours of the Center are by appointment only, and all visitors to the Bat Center MUST fill in a request form and schedule an appointment in advance of their arrival. In order to secure your spot, we suggest you contact us at least 4 weeks in advance of the date you wish to come, and be a little flexible on dates. Not all days will be available, and we will try to schedule smaller groups to join larger groups, Occasionally, ongoing research studies may be scheduled, preventing tours on certain days.

A tour lasts approximately 1 hour in total, and consists of a 20 min presentation on “ Bats are Superheroes”, introducing the world of bats, their basic biology, and the ecological role bats play in our environment. This is followed by a 30 min visit thru the Bat Center to see the bats – including Large flying foxes with wingspans of over 5 ft.

COST: We do not charge for entry, however we are a small non-profit facility, and receive little/no funding assistance. We therefore hope that you consider making a donation, and while this is not required, it helps to support our education programs and feed the bats!

Individuals, families and private groups: Suggestion donation amount $15 per person for all private individuals, and adults /teenagers, and $10 per child (3-12yrs).
School Groups, Scout & Brownie Groups only: Suggested donation amount $5 per child/$10 per educator chaperone.
We can only offer a tour /program if our minimum donation of $100 is met.
Groups who can raise a donation of $150 or more, receive an “Adopt-a-bat” package for their group.

If you would like to schedule a tour /bring a group to Lubee please click the Request a Tour/Program button and return the form at least 4 weeks in advance to Brian Pope at info@lubee.org

How to get to Lubee Bat Conservancy

Lubee is located approximately 9 miles north of Gainesville at 1309 NW 192nd Ave. Take NW 34th street over NW 13th st./HWY 441 past the highway patrol station until CR 231 forks off to the right. Follow CR231 for several miles, then turn right onto NW 192nd Ave. Lubee is ahead on your right. Please note that we will are not open to the public on a regular basis and visitors must have arranged a tour by appointment.

Disabled Access.

NO PETS ALLOWED

Children of all ages allowed.

School Outreach Program “Nocturnal Adventures”

Fruit Bat Conservation Lubee Bat Conservancy has opened its doors to visits from school children and teachers in Florida and the south east for many years. In addition, thanks to generous sponsorship from the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, we have developed a bat education outreach program and are able to schedule a limited number of programs for school groups in the wider Gainesville area. Our programs are limited only by funding and distance. Demand is high and we often do not have the capacity to fulfill all requests – so please contact us at least one month in advance of when you would like a program.

Programs include a slideshow presentation with fabulous pictures of bats mixed with hands-on learning activities for students and a special guest appearance by one or more of our live bats.

Serafina our Straw Colored fruit bat from Africa, and Helen, our small Dog faced fruit bat from Asia, are well travelled education animals who stay inside their Perspex fronted cage, permitting and up close and personal viewing of the animals, without any health risks.

Fruit Bat Conservation To cover our basic costs of staff time and travel, we request a small donation of $5/child, $10 per adult. All groups need to meet our minimum requested $100 donation for programs in their schools to cover our travel and staff expenses.

If you would like to schedule an education outreach program at your school please click of the Request a Tour/Program button and return the form at least 4 weeks in advance to Brian Pope at info@lubee.org

Education Events Calendar

Lubee partners with the Florida Museum of Natural History by participating in their annual Cave Day, Earth Day and Butterfly and Pollinator Festivals. Bats go “On Tour” to the museum in perspex viewing cages, and Lubee staff are on hand with information materials to answer questions about bats.

If you would like to request our staff give a presentation at your event/man a display table please click of the Request a Tour/Program button and return the form at least 4 weeks in advance to Brian Pope at info@lubee.org

Calendar

Annual Florida Bat Festival – Bat Fest 2010 - Not schedulet yet - come back soon - learn more

Professional and Student Training

Lubee offers training internships to zoo technology students from Santa Fe Community College and Pensecola State College in Florida, and to veterinary and wildlife students from University of Florida and other Universities. Details of these are available thru those partner institutions. We also offer working Conservation Assistant Internships for students from the Zoology and Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department at University of Florida.

LB_01 Megachiroptera Zoo Husbandry and Conservation Course

LB_02 Flying Fox Research and Management Techniques Course

Lubee also offers a husbandry training workshop and research techniques courses aimed at zoo professionals and researchers, which are held annually based on demand. A two day course costs $390 to register, a one day course costs $190 to register. Both include 1 night's accommodation on site, breakfast and lunch.

Aa research techniques course was held on 27 April 2009. To express an interest attending a future course in 2010, please email Brian Pope at bpope@lubee.org

To download a PDF brochure and register for the next husbandry course click here.

Lubee staff helps train a visiting keeper from the Baltimore Aquarium during husbandry training.

Introduction to Bats and why these animals need to be conserved
Introduction to Megabats managed in North American Zoos and a brief review of medical problems in captivity
Inspection of bats for possible problems
Cleaning and disinfection of enclosures
Diet preparation for fruit bats
Animal capture and restraint techniques with a variety of fruit bat species
The use of anesthesia to chemically restrain flying foxes for health evaluations and sample collection
Blood collection from flying foxes
Individual identification of bats with bands and pit tags
Enrichment techniques for flying foxes