1 #WBTC1 #Conserve1 A grandma, some teenagers & a random family. They all have something in common: they use social media, live close to bat roosts and do not have a wide background on bat research. Yet, they are regularly targeted by the news forged by scientists and journalists

2 #WBTC1 #Conserve1 Often misunderstood bats have traditionally been victims of hostility/prejudice. What would be these people's reaction to truthful, objective but relentless headlines such as: Although unlikely contagious bats harbour viruses that may put human health at risk?

3 #WBTC1 #Conserve1 The question is.. how are we framing bats to the public? A review of 266 virological studies preCovid showed #bats were described as a threat for human health in 51% of them but their ecosystem services were generally disregarded (96%) https://tinyurl.com/y9xtc5oh 

4 #WBTC1 #Conserve1 Additionally, we screened 1054 public news from 15 newspapers from the five most populated countries within the EU and found that virus-related news had significantly more social-engagement than those related to #ecology and #conservation (results in process)

5. #WBTC1 #Conserve1 Surprising? No; predictable. But not less important. The demonisation of by disease speculation is eroding their value into the society, undermining decades of #conservation tasks.
RMR Providing 50%-50% disease and conservation risks info DOES NOT WORK