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Bat Flies off with New Zealand's Bird of the Year Title

The pekapeka-tou-roa or the long-tailed bat was added to the competition this year to help raise awareness of the mammal as it faces extinction. (Department of Conservation NZ)
The pekapeka-tou-roa or the long-tailed bat was added to the competition this year to help raise awareness of the mammal as it faces extinction. (Department of Conservation NZ)
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Bat Flies off with New Zealand's Bird of the Year Title

The pekapeka-tou-roa or the long-tailed bat was added to the competition this year to help raise awareness of the mammal as it faces extinction. (Department of Conservation NZ)
The pekapeka-tou-roa or the long-tailed bat was added to the competition this year to help raise awareness of the mammal as it faces extinction. (Department of Conservation NZ)

A tiny bat took off with New Zealand's bird of the year award this week, making it the first non-bird to win the coveted title that is closely watched in the Pacific island nation.

The pekapeka-tou-roa or the long-tailed bat, which is about the size of a thumb, was added to the competition this year to help raise awareness of the mammal as it faces extinction.

It was declared the winner after a two-week campaign which organizers claim "broke the internet".

"The campaign to raise awareness and support for this little flying furball has captured the nation!" Forest & Bird's Bird of the Year spokesperson Laura Keown said in a statement.

"A vote for bats is also a vote for predator control, habitat restoration, and climate action to protect our bats and their feathered neighbors," she said.

This is the first time a bat, or any mammal, was included in the contest organized by New Zealand's Forest & Bird conservation charity, and the winning choice stoked much controversy on social media. Many expressed their disappointment and called the contest a farce.

"If I were a bird, I would feel ripped off," said one Twitter user.

The voting closed on Oct. 31 with 56,733 verified votes cast, making it the biggest ever Bird of the Year.

"Long-tailed bats, or pekapeka-tou-roa, are a unique part of Aotearoa's biodiversity, but lots of people don't know they even exist," said Ben Paris, senior conservation advisor at Auckland Council, using the Maori name for New Zealand.

The long-tailed bat, which has the scientific name Chalinolobus tuberculatus, received 7,031 votes, beating the kakapo, which got 4,072 votes to come second. The kakapo, called an owl parrot, is a large, flightless and nocturnal bird, which is also considered critically endangered, and won the competition last year.

The annual Bird of the Year competition has run into several controversies over the years.

The 2020 election was roiled with voter fraud after 1,500 fraudulent votes were recorded for the kiwi pukupuku or the little-spotted kiwi.

Hundreds of votes from Russia sparked accusation of Russian meddling in the elections in 2019.

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US Bans Red Food Dye over Possible Cancer Risk

Fruit by the Foot, a product that uses Red Dye No 3, can be seen on a shelf at a supermarket in this illustration photograph on December 27, 2024 - AFP
Fruit by the Foot, a product that uses Red Dye No 3, can be seen on a shelf at a supermarket in this illustration photograph on December 27, 2024 - AFP
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US Bans Red Food Dye over Possible Cancer Risk

Fruit by the Foot, a product that uses Red Dye No 3, can be seen on a shelf at a supermarket in this illustration photograph on December 27, 2024 - AFP
Fruit by the Foot, a product that uses Red Dye No 3, can be seen on a shelf at a supermarket in this illustration photograph on December 27, 2024 - AFP

Outgoing US President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced a ban on Red Dye No 3, a controversial food and drug coloring long known to cause cancer in animals.

Decades after scientific evidence first raised alarm, Red 3, as it is also called, is currently used in nearly 3,000 food products in the United States, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

"FDA is revoking the authorized uses in food and ingested drugs of FD&C Red No 3 in the color additive regulations," said a document from the Department of Health and Human Services, published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, AFP reported.

The decision follows a petition filed in November 2022 by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and other advocacy groups, which cited the "Delaney Clause" -- a provision mandating the prohibition of any color additive shown to cause cancer in humans or animals.

Notably, the FDA determined as early as 1990 that Red 3 should be banned in cosmetics because of its link to thyroid cancer in lab rats.

However, the additive continued to be used in foods, largely due to resistance from the food industry. Manufacturers of maraschino cherries, for example, relied on Red 3 to maintain the iconic red hue of their products.

It's also present in thousands of candies, snacks and fruit products.

The United States is one of the last major economies to take action on the dye. The European Union prohibited its use in 1994, with similar bans implemented in Japan, China, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

CSPI hailed the decision as overdue and expressed hope it would lead to further action against other potentially harmful chemicals in food.

"They don't add any nutritional value, they don't preserve the food -- they're just there to make food look pretty," Thomas Galligan, a scientist with CSPI, told AFP.

"There's growing discussion across the political spectrum about food additives and chemicals, which reflects ongoing failures by the FDA."