Lil' Drac: Orphaned Short-Tailed Fruit Bat Rescued By Bat World Sanctuary

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Lil' Drac: Orphaned Short-Tailed Fruit Bat Rescued By Bat World Sanctuary (VIDEO)

First Posted: 12/10/11 07:49 PM ET Updated: 12/10/11 07:49 PM ET

Prepare to have your opinion about bats changed forever.

Meet Lil' Drac, a short-tailed fruit bat taken in by Bat World Sanctuary, an organization with a mission that includes promoting the protection and conservation of wild bats.

VIDEO BELOW

According to the organization, this little guy was abandoned by his mother who was traumatized when a zoo she was living in closed and she had to be moved.

Because he's not being raised by his mother, the volunteers stroke his stomach with a cotton swab to simulate the feeling of a mother's tongue. And as you'll see in the video below, he's learned to suck milk through a small piece of foam.

There have been other notable rescues of orphaned bats this year.

Last month, nearly 100 orphaned baby fruit bats (a different species than Lil' Drac) were rescued in Australia after their parents had died from February's Cyclone Yasi.

And in January, the Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Centre rescued another 130 orphaned bats whose parents had been killed in flooding on the country's Gold Coast.

Note: If you see a bat, don't touch it -- contact animal control.

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WATCH Lil' Drac (Via io9.):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkeSSdwbnPg&feature=player_embedded#t=0s

[Bat]

Sooo cute...I love him!!