Join us! - MTBC Events and Field Trips

Search
Close this search box.

Angkor Wat and Bats

Angkor WatLiterally thousands of temple ruins are near Siem Reap to explore, and at least three days is recommended to see most of them. In one day we visited ten, and were pleased to find bats in most of them.

The complex of temples known as Angkor was built from the 9th to 13th century by successive Khmer rulers, and the mother of them all is the Angkor Wat Temple, the largest (first Hindu, later Buddhist) temple in the world. Between the 12th and 13th century, when London had a mere population of about 50,000, it is estimated that Angkor had 1,000,000, making it the largest city in the world at the time.  They were the people, under successive Khmer kings, who built these massive construction projects on the scale of the Egyptian Pharaohs’ pyramids.

If you’ve ever seen the Angelina Jolie movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, many of the scenes were filmed at Angkor. I join the chorus and recommend you see Angkor Wat before you die!

At nearby Phnom Kulen National Park, we set up a four-panel bat trap over a small stream in the forest for about an hour, and caught five species of bats.

Cantor's roundleaf bat (Hipposideros galeratus) Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia

Cantor’s roundleaf bat (Hipposideros galeratus) Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia

(Rhinolophus microglobosus) Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia
(Rhinolophus microglobosus) Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia
(Hipposiderous pomona) Large-eared roundleaf bat, Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia
(Hipposideros pomona) Large-eared roundleaf bat, Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia
Malayan horseshoe bat, (Rhinolophus mayayanus) Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia
Malayan horseshoe bat, (Rhinolophus malayanus) Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia
Shamel's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus shameli), Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia
Shamel’s horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus shameli), Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap District, Cambodia

Love our content? Support us by sharing it!

Facebook
Twitter
Email

Related Posts

Don't miss a post!

Get all the latest news from MTBC delivered straight to your inbox.

Michael Lazari Karapetian

Michael Lazari Karapetian has over twenty years of investment management experience. He has a degree in business management, is a certified NBA agent, and gained early experience as a money manager for the Bank of America where he established model portfolios for high-net-worth clients. In 2003 he founded Lazari Capital Management, Inc. and Lazari Asset Management, Inc.  He is President and CIO of both and manages over a half a billion in assets. In his personal time he champions philanthropic causes. He serves on the board of Moravian College and has a strong affinity for wildlife, both funding and volunteering on behalf of endangered species.