Microbats | Ultrasound on pregnant ghost bat at Sydney's Featherdale Wildlife Park

Microbats | Ultrasound on pregnant ghost bat at Sydney's Featherdale Wildlife Park

SHE has undergone a check which all expectant mums are given: an ultrasound scan to map the health of her precious baby.

The ultrasound machine, donated to Sydney's Featherdale Wildlife Park by the GE company and used on a pregnant ghost bat last week, is the same as those which scan humans.

"The only thing different is that we have a set of probes in a variety of sizes," senior park curator Chad Staples said yesterday.

"While human mums are all about the same size and shape, we have animals from the very small to the very big."

Mr Staples said the ultrasound machine, which reveals the insides of animals, is a huge help in providing care for its creatures.

"Like many animals, we don't know a lot about ghost bat pregnancies, so her scans will be kept in the ultrasound's data bank," he said.

"If the baby is healthy we'll know what a healthy ghost bat foetus looks like and use it when the next ghost bat is pregnant."

Mr Staples believes the use of the imaging equipment will be particularly important for the early detection of potentially life-threatening illnesses.

"Often once an animal begins to exhibit visible symptoms of sickness, the illness has already progressed beyond the point of successful treatment," he said.

Mr Staples said images of the ghost bat's one-month-old foetus - her baby will be born in about two months - was a reminder of how closely related bats and humans are.

• Ultrasound on pregnant ghost bat at Sydney's Featherdale Wildlife Park proves we're all a bit batty

MALCOLM HOLLAND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH NOVEMBER 05, 2012

2016 Ghost Bats

Zookeeper Chad September 28, 2016
This photo may take some explaining but it shows how cool my job is. This is a Ghost bat (the largest species of carnivorous bat in Australia) and today I'm ultrasoundsounding our females to check for pregnancy.

Zookeeper Chad October 30, 2016
Here are 3 of our female ghost bats, one of these girls is the one who I ultrasounded a week or so ago. And now it's not easy to see but she has her new pup hanging upside down around her neck.

Zookeeper Chad November 1, 2016
Our new little pup ghost bat is a boy😊 he is all prepped and ready for his microchip. It is really important to do this early to keep a track on who's baby is who's as the pups become very independent quickly and they all look very similar.