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Headline: UNCAPTIONED: Scientists fear new pandemic after filming rats eating bats
Caption: Scientists fear new pandemic after filming rats eating bats. Scientists are newly worried about the potential spread of viruses like Covid-19 after viewing footage of rats hunting and devouring bats. Bats are known to carry a wide range of viruses – including relatives of the coronavirus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic. But as bats rarely come into contact with people, scientists have long wondered how these viruses might pass from bats to humans. Now, a new study from Germany has revealed an unexpected potential link. Researchers studying bat communication accidentally filmed rats attacking bats – even snatching some out of mid-air.” The team, using an infrared camera in a cave in northern Germany, recorded brown rats ambushing roosting bats in total darkness. The researchers believe the rats likely came from a nearby open-air theatre in the town of Bad Segeberg, a tourist hotspot where discarded food attracts rodents. To find out whether the behaviour was unique to that site, the team surveyed another cave in Lüneburg, near Hamburg – and found similar attacks, along with partially eaten bat carcasses. Urbanisation, the study warns, is pushing rats deeper into natural habitats as they seek food and shelter, bringing them into closer contact with wildlife. The findings have also caught the attention of disease experts who warn the rats could act as a “bridging host” for bat-borne viruses.
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