Today, we are imploring you to consider the plight of fragile, helpless flying foxes in Seychelles – animals with bodies barely bigger than your palm – who are maligned, hunted, ripped from their families, and needlessly slaughtered for gruesome “traditional” foods.

Flying foxes need YOU today – and if you help right away, your gift will be DOUBLED. Read on…

Widely misunderstood and ruthlessly hunted for their flesh, flying foxes are in deep peril.

Right now, they are dying in their droves across the island of Mahé in the Seychelles.

Credit: Protect Paradise Seychelles

They are desperate for YOUR help.

Using the poor excuse of “tradition,” flying foxes are caught and killed for “bat curry,” a dish with no place in a society with an abundance of ethical food sources.

Hunters string crude fishing lines and hooks high up in trees, and when the unsuspecting flying creatures forage for fruit, they get trapped in these barbaric contraptions.

Helpless babies die still clinging to their mothers or fall from their mothers’ bodies to die slowly on the ground.

Animals not killed outright by the nets are butchered with knives. Those who don’t partake in this culinary catastrophe are often disinterested in halting this brutal practice, as the animals are seen as little better than pests.

Credit: Anna Buckley

To make matters exponentially worse, this is far from the only threat facing the species on Mahé.

A growing human population means fewer food sources and increasing environmental threats. Their habitats are destroyed, fruit trees are replaced by urban blight or harvested for human consumption, and bright city lights leave them disorientated, lost and prone to accidents.

Frequently, they fly into power lines, killing them or leaving them fatally injured.The rampant killing of helpless flying foxes is heartbreaking.

Please show these gentle, sweet flying foxes that YOU care!

Also known as fruit bats, flying foxes are intelligent, social creatures who often live in family groups. Pups are totally reliant on their mothers as infants when they weigh less than a small apple and stay with their mothers for up to one year.

There is a glimmer of hope for these mammals: your matched donation today, and our dedicated partner on the ground, Protect Paradise Seychelles (PPS).

This hardworking organization rescues orphaned, injured and displaced flying foxes, among many other species, and helps to save as many lives as they can. They need extra support NOW, because it is “orphan season.”

Credit: Protect Paradise Seychelles

A very kind donor has pledged to MATCH your donation to flying foxes today, empowering you to make EVEN MORE of a difference!

A generous-hearted ASI donor with a special interest in flying foxes has pledged to MATCH every donation made towards these special mammals, up to a total of $4,000 (roughly £3,160).

That means whatever you donate will effectively be DOUBLED, so your contribution will go twice as far!

As PPS’ rehabilitation center fills with injured, orphaned souls needing help during the species’ birthing season, this compassionate pledge – combined with your donations – has the power to help save so many more lives!

Credit: Protect Paradise Seychelles

PPS desperately needs an X-ray machine to accurately diagnose and treat injuries. It will make a LIFE-SAVING DIFFERENCE to flying foxes, and your MATCHED DONATION will help us provide it!

Failing to protect flying foxes could have devastating consequences for life on Earth.

These winged mammals disperse seeds and pollinate flowers to sustain forests and promote healthy growth. In turn, forests support thousands of species of fauna and flora, and are crucial in combating climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air.

Without forests, the impact of dramatically changing weather events would become even more severe, turning rains into floods and dry spells into droughts. Our very life on Earth depends on healthy forests – and forests depend on creatures like flying foxes.

We know you care about our beautiful planet and every wild animal that calls it home. We know that you won’t let these helpless little creatures down!

Please donate as much as you can now. Every donation up to $4,000 (roughly £3,160) will be MATCHED! That means the time to give is right now.