Nature & Environment

This photo of a 'human-sized' bat is actually real

By T.K. Randall
July 3, 2020

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Social media has been buzzing over the last two days over a photograph of what is being touted as a 'human-sized' bat that someone caught on camera in what looks like a shed or garage.

It was posted up on Twitter by the user @AlexJoestar622 who wrote: "Remember when I told y'all about the Philippines having human-sized bats? Yeah, this was what I was talking about."

But does this image really show a giant bat or is it a hoax ?

Surprisingly, it is actually a real animal, however there are some caveats.For one, the image is not new - it has appeared online before. Secondly, the bat, while enormous, is not quite the size of an adult human. Instead, it is only its wingspan that measures 5ft across.

It is also likely that the perspective of the photograph makes the bat appear larger than it actually is.

The species - the giant golden-crowned flying fox - is considered to be endangered due to deforestation, poaching and other destructive human activities.

Remember when I told y'all about the Philippines having human-sized bats? Yeah, this was what I was talking about pic.twitter.com/nTVIMzidbC

— Alex is....ðŸ'« (@AlexJoestar622) June 24, 2020

Source: USA Today

Tags: Bat