Visit Organic Bouquet, the world’s first online organic florist, from our website and Lubee will receive a 10% donation for each order of organic flowers purchased.
The Lubee Bat Center - Facilities and Staff | Bats at the Center | Bat Husbandry, Enrichment & Exhibition | Captive breeding – Working with AZA | Research – Working with Universities | Keepers Journal | Conservation Training | Volunteer Opportunities | Support work at the Lubee Center
Lubee's Center for Bat Research and Conservation was founded in 1989. Located just north of Gainesville, Florida, on a 110- acre ranch, the center is a multi purpose facility housing mainly old-world fruit bats, and designed for use by visiting scientists, veterinarians, educators and students. Conservation science research programs include studies in reproductive physiology, endocrinology, genetics, nutrition, behavior and enrichment to ensure the future of endangered fruit and nectar bat species in the wild and in captivity.
The knowledge gained through research at the Center will help scientists and conservationists address threats to the most seriously endangered fruit bat species by increasing our knowledge of feeding and breeding requirements, and through managing captive populations to maintain genetic diversity to ensure their long-term survival. It will help educators provide information about the key ecologic and economic role that fruit and nectar bats play in human communities around the globe.
The Center's research and training programs are coordinated by Dr. Allyson Walsh (Director), who is working to establish international research programs that will take the Center's science from the lab to the field, and Dana LeBlanc (Curator) who specializes in husbandry and behavioral studies.
Animals are maintained by a highly qualified resident staff. Lubee is a USDA registered research facility and also an exhibition facility. Bats at Lubee are provided with exceptional care as we aim to reach care levels above and beyond USDA required standards. Veterinary staff and services are provided by the University of Florida's Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Standard laboratory equipment available for use by researchers include refrigerators, freezers, microscopes, balances, centrifuge, and night vision video equipoment. A small library, which holds many important references, is available to Conservancy staff and resident investigators.
The center maintains modern facilities for research and captive breeding of fruit bats and nectar bats. Bats are housed in specially designed facilities, including temperature-controlled roost quarters and outdoor circular flight enclosures. Modern food preparation and food distribution facilities include a kitchen, freezers, and walk-in cold storage. Veterinary facilities include an examination and surgery room, equipped for anesthesia and recovery rooms with incubator and isolation facilities. Educational facilities include a dedicated education room for talks and displays for children, and the use of Woodshaven Field Center for graduate and professional training sessions and workshops.
Lubee Bat Conservancy maintains a large ranch style house with a meeting room suite. Housing is provided for scientists and graduate students who conduct research on bats housed at the Center. Accommodation is available for a maximum of 6 researchers/students at any time. The meeting room suite consists of one large meeting room and two adjoining break-out/study rooms. The main meeting room is equipped with a photocopier, coffee & tea making facilities, powerpoint projector, overhead & slide projector and boards/flipcharts. Day workshops /meetings/retreats of up to 40 people can be accommodated. The ranch house has an unheated indoor swimming pool, a hard tennis court and is set in 5-acres of beautifully maintained old Florida grounds. Wildlife regularly spotted inclludes armadillos, white-tailed deer, fox squirrels, pilleated woodpeckers, lizards and trees frogs.
Please contact the Director for details of how/when Woodshaven Field Center can be hired out for workshops, meetings, & retreats.
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