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ORNL 3D Prints Nesting Structures for Endangered Bats

Additive manufacturing has been playing an increasingly important role in endangered animal conservation. Earlier this fall, 3Dnatives reported on 3D printed bird decoys to encourage nesting among endangered seabirds, and now, just last week, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory rev

3D printed nest for bats
3Dnatives

Additive manufacturing has been playing an increasingly important role in endangered animal conservation. Earlier this fall, 3Dnatives reported on 3D printed bird decoys to encourage nesting among endangered seabirds, and now, just last week, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory revealed their work with biomaterials to 3D print artificial nesting structures for bats.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is located in Tennessee, a state that’s also home to several species of endangered tree roosting bats. The bats’ impact might go under the radar because they are nocturnal, but bats play a critical role in maintaining balanced ecosystems. According to the United States Geological Survey, bats save U.S. agriculture billions of dollars per year in pest control by eating insects. Estimates range from 3.7 to 53 billion dollars annually—and that’s not even accounting for costs saved by bats eating insects in forests, or their importance as crop and plant pollinators.

A prototype of the 3D printed nesting site for bats (Photo credits: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy)

Conservationists have attempted to support endangered bat populations with traditional artificial nesting sites These man-made nests often succeed in attracting bats. However, they can come with unwanted side effects: they can attract too many bats, and once settled, these bats won’t leave.